STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 28.03.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Up 25.75 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 27: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 17897.90, up 25.75 points.

(Today Market is 42.82 Up@ 11.02 am)

March 27, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Uniliver Pak	Rs 543.06	Colgate Palmolive	Rs (86.80)
Nestle Pak	Rs 250.00	Fazal Textile	Rs (11.53)
Attock Refinery	Rs 8.21	Indus Motor Co	Rs (10.00)
Pak Services	Rs 7.85	Philip Morris	Rs (8.98)
Shell Pak	Rs 5.74	Sanofi Aventis	Rs (7.00)

Equity prices rise amid cautious trading

Karachi, March 27: Lacklustre trading was witnessed at the stock market on Wednesday, however the KSE-100 index managed a gain of 53.99 points to close at 17,926.14. The tone was cautious.
The benchmark moved between the high at 18,003.71 points and low at 17,872.15 points. Many analysts thought that the 18,000 could turn out to be strong resistance level which could be breached only after a sharp upturn in activity. Yet in the face of volatility, day traders and punters decided to try and make quick profits; though many had to lose in the face of highly patchy market trend.
Dealers said that institutional investors remained sidelined in the absence of triggers and the uncertainties of the future government and its policies. “We may witness the market to drag along until the May 11 elections”, a broker said.
Khalil Usmani at the JS Global observed that trading volume was low. The PTC received some pounding after the Supreme Court once again directed the Competition Commission of Pakistan to resolve the ICH case. The next hearing is scheduled for April 1, 2013. The cement sector lost values in anticipation of coal price hike.
Manager Equity Sales, Topline Securities stated that with increased production from the Tal Block, buying interest was seen in oil stocks, which helped index to recover. Conflicting news on local cement prices affected cement stocks. Slightly negative outcome on the telecom front from the recent court hearing kept the PTC under pressure.
Ahsan Mehanti, analyst at Arif Habib Corp stated that the stocks closed higher led by the oil sector after global commodities and stocks recovered on strong US data. Sentiments remained bullish after consensus on Punjab caretaker setup and renewed institutional interest in fertilisers and oil stocks on strong valuations. Speculations ahead of the CPI Inflation data for
March ‘13 and consolidation in blue chip stocks ahead of quarter end close, played a catalyst role in higher close at the KSE amid concerns for circular debt issues in energy sector and rumors of expected CCP action against telecom and cement sector cartels.
The market capitalisation based KSE-30 index was up by 24.26 points to 14,189.57 points. Turnover was slightly lower on Wednesday at 148 million shares, from 149.6m shares traded the previous day. Yet the trading value rose to Rs5.025 billion, from Rs3.829bn. Market capitalisation saw addition of Rs22bn to Rs4.383 trillion, from Rs4.361trn. In all, 320 stocks attracted investor interest with 139 ending in positive and 156 in negative territory. Another 25 closed at their previous values.
The biggest gainers for the day included UniLever Pakistan, up by Rs543.06 to Rs11,643.06, followed by Nestle Pakistan higher by Rs250 to Rs5,250. On the declining side, Colgate Palmolive plunged by Rs86.80 to Rs1,658.20 and Fazal Textile was up by Rs11.53 to Rs219.08.
On the 10-top active list, a total of 12m shares changed hands in PIA, down by 29 paisa to Rs7.11. It was followed by the PTC lower by six paisa to Rs19.70 on 12m shares; Lotte PakPTA declined by 30 paisa to Rs7.31 on 11m shares; Maple Leaf Cement dipped by 52 paisa to Rs16.68 on 10m shares; TRG Pakistan slipped 15 paisa to Rs7.45 on 8m shares; Telecard Limited edged higher by 9 paisa to Rs5.53 on 7m shares; D.G. Khan Cement lost 90 paisa to Rs68.16 on 7m shares; Wateen Telecom added
13 paisa to Rs3.61 on 6m shares; Fauji Cement declined by 9  paisa to Rs8.33 and Jah.Sidd.Co. was up by 21 paisa to Rs14.01 on 4m shares.
Karachi Stock Exchange cuts a sorry figure: KARACHI: Pakistan’s apex bourse, Karachi Stock Exchange, (KSE) went down by 0.50 percent Tuesday, Geo News reported.

Benchmark KSE-100 Index settled down at 17,872.15 mark after losing 89.76 points.

The index heavyweight Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd shed 1.55 percent to close at Rs200.99, whereas banking giant, Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd, lost 0.67 percent to reach Rs190.47.

Company News:

UniLever buyback fixed at Rs15,000: KARACHI, March 27: The Karachi Stock Exchange has fixed the buyback price of shares held by the public in UniLever Pakistan at Rs15,000 per share.
Unilever Pakistan, the biggest fast moving consumer goods company on the stock exchange, had announced on Nov 27 last year that the UK parent intended to buy-back all shares in order to take its stake to 100 per cent.
UniLever is to seek (voluntary) de-listing from the stock exchanges. The company had put the offer price at Rs9,700 per share.
A notice released by the KSE on Wednesday stated that the Committee constituted by the board of directors of the KSE to consider the buy-back “had detailed discussions with the representatives of the sponsors.”
It stated: “After deliberating the relevant aspects under the relevant listing regulations (the committee) recommended to fix the minimum purchase price at Rs15,000 per share against the offer of the sponsors of Rs9,700 per share.”
The notice went on to say: “Under the Listing Regulation No.30-D (IV), the Sponsors of UniLever Pakistan Limited will be required to convey their acceptance/refusal to the purchase price approved by the exchange within seven days of the date of this notice”.
A very thinly traded share, UniLever Pakistan was listed at the stock exchanges in 1980. At the face value of Rs50, UniLever currently quoted at Rs11,100, is the most expensive stock on the country’s exchanges. With paid-up shares at 13.29m, Unilever Pakistan is valued at around Rs148bn, based on latest stock price.
The parent Unilever Overseas Holdings Limited is already in possession of 75.07pc of the total issued shares in Unilever Pakistan. If and when the buy-back deal goes through, the parent would mop up 3.31m shares held by the public (in case all shareholders exercise their option).
At the buy-back price anywhere between the sponsor’s offer and the minimum price fixed by the exchange, UniLever would have to pay a cool sum of somewhere between Rs32 billion and Rs47bn to the public. That would clearly mark UniLever Pakistan’s buy-back as the biggest share repurchase transaction in the corporate history of Pakistan.

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI