DAILY STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 21.03.2012

Stock

 Karachi Stocks Up 225.61 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 20: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13303.33, up 225.61 points.

March 20, 2012

5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS

Unilever Pakistan	Rs 269.78	Unilever Foods	Rs (79.50)
Nestle Pakistan	Rs 180.44	Pak Gum Chemical	Rs (2.86)
Millat Tractors	Rs 8.75	Pak Tobacco	Rs (2.80)
Mithchell’s Fruit	Rs 8.34	Exide Pakistan	Rs (2.79)
Pakistan Oilfields	Rs 7.68	Atlas Battery	Rs (2.34)

Stocks recover 225 points on foreign buying

KARACHI, March 20: Stocks were back on the rails on Tuesday as investors covered positions at the overnight lower levels under the lead of oil and fertiliser sectors amid an actively traded session.
There was no trace of the overnight sell-off as most of the investors who liquidated long positions on the low-priced shares again covered positions at the decline pushing the market back on the recovery path, floor brokers said.
The market’s buoyant mood may well be had from the fact that the KSE 100-index recouped most of the overnight losses and was quoted higher by 225.61 points or 1.73 per cent and drove bears out of the market.
The negative rumours about the delay of introduction of the reformed Capital Gains Tax by April 1 did not prove correct and investors resumed normal activity on the sectors of their choice.
Engro and ICI Pakistan, which have been under pressure for the last couple of sessions on various reasons including the reports of cut in gas supplies and lower earnings respectively, recovered in part the previous losses, floor brokers said.
But the credit for putting the market back on the track largely goes to the leading oil shares under the lead of OGDC, Pakistan Oilfields, PSo, Attock Petroleum and Shell Pakistan, which remained in demand by both the local and foreign investors, they said.
However, bulk of the support remained confined to the low-priced shares, which were the scene of a massive buying and in a way put the market back on the rails amid an actively traded session.
Leading gainers were led by Unilever Pakistan and Nestle Pakistan, higher by Rs269.78 and Rs180.44, while among the top losers, Unilever Foods and Pak Gum Chemicals were leading, off Rs79.50 and Rs2.86 respectively.
Traded volume suffered a fresh modest fall at 247.813m shares from the previous 257m shares, bulk of which was again shared by the undervalued shares.
The active list was topped by JS & Co, higher by 57 paisa at Rs17.96 on 44m shares followed by D.G. Khan Cement, up 51 paisa at Rs31.81 on 15m shares, JS Bank, higher by 96 paisa at Rs6.78 on 14m shares, Lafarge Pakistan, firm by 29 paisa at Rs3.88 also
on 14m shares, JS Investments, steady by 12 paisa at Rs10.41 on 11m shares, TRG Pakistan, higher by 26 paisa at Rs3.63 on 10m shares and National Bank, higher by 66 paisa at Rs51.78 on 8m shares.
They were followed by Dewan Cement, firm by 32 paisa at Rs4.54 on 8m shares, Soneri Bank, higher by 56 paisa at Rs6.96 also on 8m shares and Fauji Cement, firm by 26 paisa at Rs5.44 also on 8m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACTS: The active list was topped by D.G. Khan Cement, higher by Rs1.52 at Rs31.98 on 3.327m shares followed by Engro Corporation, higher by Rs4.86 at Rs106.66 on 2.459m shares and National Bank, up 70 paisa at Rs40.77 on 2.293m shares.
They were followed by Arif Habib Corporation, up 92 paisa at Rs30.36 on 1.632m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, lower 30 paisa at Rs41.67 on 0.818m shares.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Dost Steels led the list of actives, easy by eight paisa at Rs2.50 on 0.175m shares followed by Genertech Power, lower 14 paisa at Rs0.91 on 54,912 shares, Kohinoor Power, easy 11 paisa at Rs2.46 on 30,267 shares.
They were followed by Kohinoor Industries, lower seven paisa at Rs1.77 on 65,145 shares and Mukhtar Textiles, lower seven paisa at Rs0.53 on 28,960 shares.
DIVIDEND: KSB Protected Gold Fund, 5.24 per cent and Askari General Insurance 5 per cent bonus shares.

ANNOUCEMENTS/COMPANIES NEWS:

1. Mari Gas begins additional supply to SNGPL

KARACHI, March 20: Mari Gas Company Limited (MGCL), a stock market listed company, announced on Tuesday that the company had started supplying 44mmcf per day gas to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (for Wapda) w.e.f. March 10 from Mari Field (Mari Deep Reservoir) to meet the energy demands of the country.
“By supplying additional 44 mmscf/d gas, Mari Gas has achieved the hallmark of supplying more than 600 mmscf per day of gas from Mari field,” the company said.
It also stated that the company had commenced production from its oil well Halini X-1 in Karak Block.
The current production was 650-660 barrels per day.
Mari has 60 per cent share in the joint venture.
“It is expected that the enhanced production by the company would continue to make significant contributions in meeting country’s energy needs,” Mari gas said.
Gas supply to Engro
Engro Corporation announced on Tuesday morning that Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had written to the company’s 100 per cent owned subsidiary Engo Fertilizers Limited that they were “expecting normalization of transmission system” and that gas resumption may start from 6pm on Tuesday evening.”
The company stated that on that basis, urea production was expected by Friday (March 23).
The investors at the Karachi Stock Exchange scrambled to buy back the stock sold on Monday on news of gas supply cut down.
The Engro stock on Tuesday, recouped all of the Monday’s loss, rising by Rs4.94 to close at Rs106.27.

2. Pakgen reports net profit at Rs1.37bn

KARACHI, March 20: Pakgen Power Limited (formerly AES Pak Gen Company Limited) — a Nishat group independent power plant (IPP) — reported profit after tax (PAT) at Rs1.37bn for the year ended Dec 31, 2011, down from Rs1.54bn the previous year.
The profit represented earnings per share (eps) at Rs3.68 and Rs4.13. A final cash dividend at Rs1.50 (15pc) for the year ended Dec 31, 2011 was recommended by the directors.
The company’s revenue increased to Rs31.3 billion, from Rs20.5 billion, but because of big jump in cost of sales to Rs29.0 billion, from Rs18.0 billion, gross profit declined to Rs2.3bn, from Rs2.5 billion. Administrative expenses were down to Rs147m, from Rs213 million and ‘other operating expenses’ to Rs57m, from Rs190m. ‘Other operating income’ also contributed lesser amount of Rs65 million to the bottomline, compared to Rs353m the previous year.
PTC: Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited announced results for the year ended Dec 31, 2011 on Tuesday, posting profit after tax at Rs364 million, resulting in earning per share (eps) at Rs1.42.
The earnings were sharply lower from Rs925m and eps at Rs3.62 the earlier year.
After deducting excise duties at Rs34.7bn (2010: Rs30.5bn) and sales tax Rs9.8bn (2010: Rs8.8bn), net turnover stood at Rs22.9bn, compared to Rs21.0bn the previous year. Due to a bigger jump in cost of sales, gross profit stood about unchanged at Rs6.2bn in both the years. Operating profit dipped to Rs661m in the latest year, from Rs1.5bn in 2010.

3. Fatima’s ADR programme

KARACHI, March 20: The Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has been approved by the US regulator Finra to act as ‘market maker’ for Fatima Fertilizer Company Ltd (Fatima) for its Sponsored Level 1 American Depository Receipt (ADR) programme, says a press release.
In March 2011, Fatima appointed BNY Mellon, the global leader in asset management and securities servicing, as the depositary bank for its ADR programme.
Fatima’s ADRs are tradable on the over-the-counter (OTC) market in US under the symbol “FTMFY.”
Fatima became the first Pakistan-based company to facilitate trading on the US OTC markets enabling both retail and institutional investors in the US and internationally to trade readily in more convenient daylight hours.
The partnership of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Fatima would offer greater opportunities to the global investor community to invest in Pakistan-based securities.

 

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI