About the Karachi Stock Market Blog
Daily updates on the Karachi Stock Market, with news, company dividends and KSE-100 index movements.The rollercoaster of a day trader's dream /nightmare riding the KSE-100 index. More than 850 posts and counting ...

8,675

August 31, 2009

Posting will be sporadic after today for the next 10 days as  Suttabhai is off to the mountains where internet coverage is scrappy to non-existent.

8,675 

National Bank of Pakistan, the nation’s biggest lender by assets, said second-quarter profit declined 41.5 percent after it paid a higher rate of interest on savings accounts.Net income fell to 2.03 billion rupees ($24 million), or 1.88 rupees a share, from 3.47 billion, or 3.22 rupees a share, a year earlier, the Karachi-based lender said in a statement to the stock exchange today. Revenue fell to 8.92 billion rupees from 10.04 billion.The stock has advanced 69 percent this year.Moody’s Investors Service on Aug. 17 raised the outlook on the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings on National Bank to stable from negative, citing an increase in the nation’s bailout by the International Monetary Fund.The lender’s profit in fiscal first half declined to 6.32 billion rupees, or 5.87 rupees a share, from 8.1 billion, or 7.52 rupees a share,…Bloomberg

Pakistan State Oil Ltd., the nation’s biggest fuel retailer, said revenue may climb to 1 trillion rupees ($12 billion) by 2012 by increasing sales of bio-diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.The company plans to open 200 retail outlets for LPG, a fuel used by cars and for heating at homes, by June, Managing Director Irfan K. Qureshi said in an interview in Islamabad. The company reported revenue of 719 billion rupees last fiscal year, driven by diesel and gasoline sales.Pakistan State Oil needs to diversify its earnings after reporting the first loss in 33 years, when it was formed. PSO is investing in LPG and other fuels as Pakistan’s government tries to reduce its oil import bill, which accounts for about one fourth of overseas purchases…Demand for fuels is set to rise as the economy rebounds from the slowest pace of growth in eight years.
Pakistan State Oil has a 61 percent share in the country’s refined oil market and 81 percent in crude oil sales,..The new product lines and inventory gains will help State Oil return to profit this fiscal year,… The company posted a loss of 6.69 billion rupees in the year ended June 30 as declining crude prices eroded the value of its inventory….
Bloomberg

Market Low : 8,531.16  High : 8,710.23

Market Close : 8,675.67 — 134.45  points up

8,541

August 30, 2009

8,541

The KSE-100 index closed up at 8,541 on Friday with a an increase of 226 points. The market is looking slightly overbought now and could well correct to 8,100 before reaching its next target of 8,700.

News :  Pakistan State Oil Ltd., the nation’s biggest fuel retailer, raised 15 billion rupees ($180 million) to help avert defaulting on payment for importing fuels. The company got 10 billion rupees in loans from banks and 5 billion rupees in cash from the government,…Funds owed to the company increased to 90 billion rupees after power utilities failed to pay for fuel purchases, delaying Pakistan State Oil’s payments to the country’s oil refiners. The government will help to narrow the dues,…Pakistan’s government plans to sell bonds, known as term finance certificates, in the domestic market on behalf of Pakistan Electric Power Co., the state-owned utility, and disburse the amount to the company,..Pakistan State Oil shares rose 2.4 percent to 286.60 rupees, the highest level since Sept. 5, at 1:30 p.m. local time close on the Karachi Stock Exchange. The stock has advanced 98 percent this year, compared with a 46 percent increase in the benchmark stock index of 100 shares…. Bloomberg

Market Low : 8,306.64  High : 8,8,553.79

Market Close : 8,541.22 — 226.06  points up

8,319

August 26, 2009

8,319

Market Low : 8,223.79  High : 8,323.02

Market Close : 8,319.74 — 73.02  points up

 

 

 

8,287

August 24, 2009

8,297 

Dividends : Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has posted Rs 27.702 billion in net profit in the year ended on June 30, 2009 against Rs 19.707 billion in the previous year, depicting 40 percent growth.The financial results sent to the  Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday showed that earnings per share of the company also increased to Rs 33.38 over Rs 23.75 in the previous year. Analysts said that higher earnings growth in the year under review was mainly ensued from higher entitled wellhead prices of its uncapped Sui, Kandhkot, Sawan & Miano fields. The company also announced a final cash dividend for the year ended June 30, 2009 at Rs 3.00 per share (i.e.30 percent) on ordinary shares. During the year, net sales of the company rose to Rs 61.580 billion against Rs 45.716 billion in the previous year…. Source : Daily Times

News : Standard & Poor’s raised Pakistan’s sovereign rating by one notch to B-minus, citing improvements in its external liquidity and reduction in its fiscal deficit. The rating outlook is stable. The decision came a week after Moody’s Investors Service raised its rating outlook for Pakistan to stable from negative and after the country received an increase in a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)…."The market has taken this news positively on hopes that there will be an increase foreign activity with an improvement in Pakistan’s rating," said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at brokers Arif Habib Ltd….Aaj News

Pakistan stocks, Asia’s cheapest, may rebound as falling inflation and the tripling of foreign exchange reserves help to boost the nation’s equities, Credit Suisse Group AG said.The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index gained 2.4 percent to 8,298.29 as of 1:23 p.m. local time today, its highest level in eight months, after the country’s long-term sovereign credit rating was raised one level to B- from CCC+ by Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook.
“Fundamentals” have started to improve, analysts led by Sakthi Siva at Credit Suisse said in a note today. Foreign exchange reserves have tripled to almost $13 billion from $4 billion in October while inflation has halved from a peak of 25.3 percent in August last year to 11.2 percent in July 2009.
“On virtually every valuation metric, Pakistan’s valuations look compelling versus the rest of Asia,” Siva said. “Not only does this make Pakistan the most undervalued market, but the 142 percent discount is almost five times the discount that Thailand, the second-most undervalued market, trades at.”

Pakistan’s price to book ratio is 1.91 times versus Asia’s 1.86 times, while Pakistan’s relative return on equities at 26.7 percent compares to Asia’s 11 percent, the note said. The current 142 percent discount is close to the biggest in history of 177 percent, …. Bloomberg

Market Low : 8,107.94  High : 8,298.71

Market Close : 8,287 — 179.06  points up

8,107

August 21, 2009

8,107

The KSE-100 index closed at its highest level for 2009 as the market was boosted by the approval of the Bhasha dam project and the news of the launch of margin financing in the near future. While volumes were relatively low at 97.7 million , the market made an intra-day high of 8,118 and closed up at 8,107.

Dividends : Habib Bank Limited (HBL) has announced a profit after tax of Rs6.6 billion for the first half of calendar year 2009 ended on June 30. This is three per cent higher than Rs6.4 billion profit posted in the corresponding period of last year. The bank, however, announced no payout for ordinary shareholders along with the review of half yearly financial accounts. Net profits translated into Earning per Share at Rs7.2 against Rs6.98 EPS recorded in the first half of calendar year 2008… Source : The News

News : The Trading Affairs Committee of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Friday rejected the margin financing mechanism and demanded the re-launching of modified CFS MK-II leverage product. The committee, in its meeting held on Friday evening, completely refused to accept the current margin financing draft approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and formed a sub committee, comprising of 5 members, to discuss the matter with SECP commissioner Sohail Dayala on Monday (24 August)… The Nation

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has revised the list of margin eligible securities for ready market on the basis of eligibility criteria approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), effective from September 21st…the new list included 40 scrips which would be acceptable as collateral against exposure margins and market-to-market losses….The new list includes ABL, ACPL, AHL, AHSL, AICL, AKBL, ANL, APL, ATRL, BAFL, BAHL, BOP, BOSI, DGKC, Engro, EPCL, FABL, FFBL, FFC, HBL, HUBCO, ICI, JOVC, JSCL, JSIL, KAPCO, Luck, Mari, MCB, NBP, NETSOL, NIB, OGDC, PAEL, PAKRL, PKGS, POL, PPL, PRL, PSO, PTCL, Shell, SNGP, SPL and UBL…The News

 

Market Low : 7,973.45  High : 8,118.16

Market Close : 8,107.94 — 134.49  points up

7,973

August 20, 2009

7,973

Dividends : National Refinery Limited has declared a final cash dividend of Rs 12.50 per share as it posted a profit after tax of Rs 1,533 billion during the year ending June 30, 2009… the refinery earned a gross profit of Rs 2.813 billion during the period under review with earnings per share at Rs 19.17… Source : Daily Times

Attock Cement has posted a record profit after tax of Rs 1.492 billion for the year ending June 30, 2009 and declared a 20 percent bonus and 32.5 percent final cash dividend… the company has earned a pre-tax profit of Rs 1.988 billion during the year with earnings per share surging to Rs 20.69… Source : Daily Times

News : Margin Financing, an alternate leverage product of CFS Mk-II or traditional badla to cater to the financing needs of the brokerage houses and their clients, is most likely to be launched at the Karachi Stock Exchange next week, it is learnt. The Trading Affairs Committee of KSE, in its meeting to be held here on Friday (today) would review the final concept paper on Margin Financing and sources said that the committee is most likely to approve the concept paper with some amendments…. Aaj News

Market Low : 7,926.63  High : 8,013.96

Market Close : 7,973.45 — 20.75 points up

7,952

August 19, 2009

7,952

News : The government on Wednesday announced that it will give 12 per cent shares (438 million shares) of state-owned Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) to its employees free of cost…Giving further details, Qamar said a total of 438 million shares of the OGDC will be given to workers in lots of 3,000 shares each. Employees will be given between one and 20 lots each, depending on their length of service, he said. Workers will only be eligible to receiving shares if they have worked for the company for five years. …The government’s stake in the company will be reduced to 73 per cent after the shares are allocated to employees on Aug 26. Under the scheme, employees are barred from selling the shares and will receive the market price when they leave the company, Qamar said. They will get annual dividends while in employment… The News

Market Low : 7,939.32 High : 8,085.20

Market Close : 7,952.70 — 42.40 points down 

7,995

August 18, 2009

7,995

Market Low : 7,932.55  High : 8,053.64

Market Close : 7,995.10 — 62.55 points up

 

Results / Dividends for August 2009 - II

August 17, 2009

Packages : EPS : 46.38

Shell Gas LPG Pakistan Ltd (SGLL)

Shell Pakistan : 80% CASH - EPS : 14.80

Arif Habib Bank : EPS : -1.14

National Refinery : 125% Cash - EPS : 19.17

Pakistan Refinery Ltd : EPS : -130.62

Attock Cement Pakistan Ltd : 32.5% Cash + 20% Bonus - EPS : 20.69

Askari Bank  : EPS : 1.15

Faysal Bank : EPS : 0.77

Habib Bank Ltd  : EPS : 7.14

Tri-Pack Films Ltd. : EPS : 7.57

Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL) : EPS : 2.51

Pakistan Petroleum Ltd :  30% Cash + 20% Bonus :  EPS 33.38

Pak Suzuki Motor Co. (PSMC) : EPS : 1.96

Nishat Mills : 20% Cash - EPS : 6.81

JS Bank : EPS : -1.31

Adamjee Insurance : 15% Cash - EPS : 5.18

ICI Pakistan Ltd. : 35% Cash - EPS : 7.39

Pak ReInsurance Co. Ltd : EPS : - 2.25

National Bank Ltd : EPS : 5.87

7,932

7,932

News : Pakistan’s credit rating outlook was raised to stable from negative by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited an increased International Monetary Fund loan.The IMF bailout “would help to safeguard foreign currency reserve adequacy against the risks of further deceleration in private capital flows,” Moody’s analyst Aninda Mitra said in a statement today. The loan will also help the country obtain bilateral assistance, he said.The IMF this month increased Pakistan’s loan package to $11.2 billion, approving an additional $3.2 billion to help revive South Asia’s second-biggest economy. Governor Salim Raza on Aug. 15 cut the central bank’s benchmark interest rate to 13 percent from 14 percent to aid growth….The changed outlook will have a “positive impact” on the stock market and may encourage foreign investment in Pakistan,… Bloomberg

Moody’s Investor Services raised the outlook on the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of  four Pakistani banks to stable from negative…The four banks include National Bank of Pakistan, the biggest by assets, Habib Bank Ltd., the second-biggest, United Bank Ltd., the third-biggest, and MCB Bank Ltd., the No. 1 by market value, it said…. Source : Bloomberg

Market Low : 7,858.15  High : 8,014.16

Market Close : 7,932.55 — 78.76 points down 

Board Meetings for August 2009 - II

August 16, 2009

Packages : (PKGS ) : 17th

Shell Gas LPG Pakistan Ltd (SGLL)

Shell Pakistan : (SHEL) : 18th

Arif Habib Bank (AHBL)

National Refinery (NRL) : 19th

Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL) 

Attock Cement Pakistan Ltd ( ACPL) 

Askari Bank (AKBL) : 20th

Faysal Bank (FABL)

Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) : 21st

Tri-Pack Films Ltd. (TRIPF)

Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL) : 22nd

Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) : 24th

Pak Suzuki Motor Co. (PSMC)

JS Bank (JSBL) : 25th

Nishat Mills Ltd. (NML) 

Adamjee Insurance (AICL) : 26th

ICI Pakistan Ltd. (ICI) : 27th

Bank Alfalah (BAFL) 

Pakistan Reinsurance Co. Ltd (PAKRI) : 28th

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) : 29th

SBP reduces discount rate to 13 percent

Governor State Bank of Pakistan Syed Salim Raza announced on Saturday a reduction in central bank’s key policy rate by 100 basis points to 13 percent, effective from August 17th.

Unveiling the July-September 2009 Monetary Policy Statement at a press conference at SBP, Karachi, he said that SBP was introducing a corridor for the money market overnight repo rate from August 17. While the SBP policy rate will serve as a ‘ceiling’, the repo rate on the new overnight deposit facility, 300 basis points below the SBP policy rate, will provide a binding ‘floor’, he added.The newly introduced “SBP Overnight Repo facility” will be available at 10% per annum. This will serve as the ‘floor’ for the interest rate corridor… Daily Times

Re-Composition of the KSE-30 index

The  KSE-30 index has been re-composed and the following companies will be included and excluded from August 17th :-

INCOMING :

Kot Addu Power Company Ltd

Attock Petroleum Ltd

ICI Pakistan Ltd.

Bank Al Habib Ltd

Pakistan Reinsurance Co. Ltd

Shell Pakistan Ltd.

OUTGOING :

Arif Habib Ltd

Pervez Ahmed Securites Ltd

Askari Bank Ltd

The Bank of Punjab

EFU General Insurance Ltd

Netsol Technologies Ltd

NIB Bank Ltd.

Source : www.kse.net.pk

 

 

 

Market Closed

August 14, 2009

The Karachi Stock Exchange will remain closed today due to Independence Day, a public hoilday in Pakistan.

8,011

August 13, 2009

 

8,011

Dividends : The profit after tax of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has increased to Rs 55.539 billion in the year ended June 30, 2009 (FY09) as compared to Rs 44.338 billion earned in FY08. The earning per share of the company surged to Rs 12.91 in the period under review against Rs 10.31 in the same period a year back…The board of directors of the company in its meeting approved a final cash dividend for the year at Rs 2.50 per share, ie 25 percent. … According to the financial results, the company’s net sales increased to Rs 130.829 billion in FY09 against Rs 125.908 billion in FY08… Aaj News

News : The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) is determined to launch margin financing, a leverage product for the stock markets, before the end of August. "The SECP is all set to launch margin financing within two weeks or before the end of August,” an SECP official told The News on Thursday…. The News

In its August 2009 quarterly index review, Morgan Stanley Capital International Barra (MSCI Barra) has added Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pak Petroleum (PPL) to the Pakistan Index with effect from August 31, 2009… The News

Pakistan’s central bank will probably lower its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year to help boost economic growth. State Bank of Pakistan will cut its discount rate by between 1 and 2 percentage points from 14 percent, according a Bloomberg News survey of 12 economists…

Contributor                               Key Rate

Standard Chartered            Cut by 2 percentage points
JS Global Capital             Cut by 1.5 percentage points
Elixir Securities             Cut by 1.5 percentage points
AKD Securities                Cut by 1.5 percentage points
Credit Suisse                 Cut by 1.25 percentage points
Atlas Capital                 Cut by 1.0 percentage point
Foundation Securities         Cut by 1.0 percentage point
Invest Finance Securities     Cut by 1.0 percentage point
IGI Securities                Cut by 1.0 percentage point
BMA Funds                     Cut by 1.0 percentage point
Alfalah Securities            Cut by 1.5 percentage points
Global Securities             Cut by 1 to 1.5 percentage points  ….
Bloomberg

 


Market Low : 7,960.83  High : 8,119.60

Market Close : 8,011.31 — 47.15 points down 

8058

August 12, 2009

 

8,058

Dividends : Pakistan’s Hub Power Co Ltd (Hubco) reported a  net profit of 3.78 billion rupees ($45.7 million) for 2008/09, a jump of 45.4 percent from the previous year. Hubco, the country’s second-largest private power producer, earned net profit of 2.6 billion rupees in 2007/08…The firm also announced a final cash dividend of 2.0 rupees per share…Source : Aaj News

Pakistan State Oil, the nation’s biggest fuel retailer, posted a full-year loss as declining prices eroded the value of its inventory. The net loss in the year ended June 30 was 6.69 billion rupees ($80.8 million), or 39.05 rupees a share, compared with a net profit of 14.1 billion rupees, or 81.94 rupees, a year earlier,… Sales rose to 719.3 billion rupees, from 583.2 billion rupees…Pakistan State Oil also recorded a loss because of higher financial costs, Khan said. The fuel retailer borrowed more from banks to bridge a shortfall caused by 56 billion rupees in delayed payments for fuel purchases by state-run power producers, he said.The company’s loan costs rose to 6.23 billion rupees in the year ended June 30, from 1.37 billion rupees a year earlier… Bloomberg

News : Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) has discovered new reserves of natural gas in Ghotki city of Sindh province…. the new reserves were discovered at Gadu Block-1 in Ghotki. Daily supply of 282,000 cf gas is expected to come from this source after completion of the preliminary research…Source : The News

MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest lender by market value, agreed to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s Pakistan unit for about $87 million to increase branches and its expertise in financial transactions.MCB Bank will buy 1.7 billion shares, or a 99.4 percent stake, at 4.22 rupees apiece before making an offer for the remainder,…Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch and KASB Securities Ltd. advised MCB on the transaction. Morgan Stanley advised RBS….The purchase of RBS Pakistan, which has 75 branches in 24 cities, will expand MCB’s network of outlets to 1,139, according to the statement. RBS had assets worth 108 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) as of Dec., 31, 2008… Bloomberg

Market Low : 8,044.11  High : 8,135.36

Market Close : 8,058.46 — 13.96 points up

8,044

August 11, 2009

8,044

News : The operator of Tal Block has hit hydrocarbon deposits in the exploratory well Marmzai-1….Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL) said that in the lockhart formation, the upper 75 metres of the drilled section has produced 12 mmcfd gas and 430 barrels per day condensate…MOL Pakistan is the operator in the Tal Block with the other four Pakistani companies including OGDCL, PPL, POL and GHPL… The News

Market Low : 8,031.82  High : 8,178.73

Market Close : 8,044.50 — 37.56 points down 

 

8,082 - 8k breaks !

August 10, 2009

8,082 The KSE-100 index finally closed above 8k and made its highest close since Dec.17th 08. The Karachi Stock market got a good hoist from the IMF news and the volume of shares traded increased to 155.5 million.

Dividends : MCB Bank has earned profit before tax of Rs 11.7 billion during the first half of the calendar year 2009. With 10 percent growth in profit Bank has announced cash dividend of Rs 2.5 per share…During the first half of the calendar year 2009, the Bank’s profit before tax closed at Rs 11.7Billion registering a significant growth of 10 percent over the reported profit before tax of corresponding period last year. Profit after tax closed at Rs 7.76 Billion translating into an EPS of Rs 11.22…. Aaj News

News : The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has approved the Draft of Margin Financing (MF).After reviewing the draft, the apex regulator…sent it back to the stock exchanges incorporating the comments of the stakeholders and asked the bourses to prepare the regulations governing MF, so that the product could be introduced as early as possible….According to sources, the important feature of the new system is that it eliminates the ‘systemic risk’, as the new system limits extended funding in one scrip, besides the system (clearing and settlement) is not responsible for the default of financee…. Daily Times

Pakistan’s largest bank, MCB Bank, will pay around $90 million to acquire the local operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Monday…"We will pay around 7.5 billion rupees ($90.4 million) for RBS Pakistan," said the source, who declined to be identified as the deal has not yet been signed. "The share purchase agreement is likely to be signed in a day or two, maybe even tomorrow, in Dubai," he said. The price would be 0.76 times RBS Pakistan’s book value of 9.888 billion rupees, as of March 31st. "In terms of pricing, MCB seems to have struck a great deal and the bank may even book a gain on amalgamation of RBS into MCB," said Asif Qureshi, director at brokers Invisor Securities…Aaj News

Market Low : 7,872.23  High : 8,097.34

Market Close : 8,082.06 — 209.83 points up

7,872

August 8, 2009

7,872 Talks with the IMF have been successful in terms of the release of the 3rd tranche & an additional loan of $3.2 billion. As the market had been sitting on the fence awaiting the news, it should propel the KSE-100 index above 8k next week. The final upward trigger will depend on  how many bps will be cut in the Monetary Policy announcement on August 15th.

News :  A huge inflow of $19.146 million (Rs 1.55 billion) of foreign portfolio investment at the local equity market was recorded during the outgoing week ended August 7, 2009. This was the highest weekly net inflow witnessed by the market in last 15 months…offshore investors bought shares worth $25.2 million and sold shares worth $6.6 million during the week….Analysts believed that the foreign investors interest at the local market is reviving and they are coming back to invest here. They were expecting that more foreign portfolio investment would come in the local equity market as the Pakistan equity market is still cheaper as compared to other regional markets,…Aaj News

Askari Bank Limited announced on Friday that it had decided not to proceed with the merger of Mybank Limited with and into Askari Bank Limited…In June, Askari Leasing had announced its intention to merge with Askari Bank and at the same time intentions to merge Askari Bank and Mybank were also announced. Well-informed sources told Daily Times that one of the banks had a big infected portfolio because of which the two disagreed on the swap ratio. As a result, talks broke down… Daily Times

Petroleum giant Shell has agreed to participate with 4gas in Pakistan’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project,With Shell becoming part of Mashal LNG project, it would open up sources of gas supply from around the world…British Shell and Carlyle Group’s 4gas separately showed interest when Mashal LNG was tendered in 2005. Subsequently, 4gas was issued exclusivity letter by the government that brought it close to the actual award of the project….The $700 million project comprises a floating terminal and storage tanks built onboard a ship, which will be chartered for the duration of the contract. All the investment is being made by 4gas. Work on the project, including dredging and pipelines, is slated to start by December 2009…. The News

Market Low : 7,822.32  High : 7,937.80

Market Close : 7,872.23 — 49.91 points up

 

7,822

August 6, 2009

7,822

Dividends : Attock Petroleum has earned a record profit after tax of Rs3.08 billion for the year 2008-09 and declared a final cash dividend of Rs15 per share… pre-tax profit was up at Rs4.28 billion for the period ended June 2009… Earnings per share surged to Rs53.51 during the period under review compared to Rs45.86 in the same period last year. The company’s sales jumped to Rs70.72 billion compared to last year’s Rs60.13 billion… Source : The News

Market Low : 7,769.27  High : 7,870.17

Market Close : 7,822.32 — 12.37 points down 

7,834

August 5, 2009

7,834 The KSE-100 index made an intra-day high of 7,896 and closed up at 7,834. The market should break 7,900 and hold to go through 8k with some correction along the way. Perhaps the ‘’badla'’ issue will be sorted out before the result season ends, giving the market a much needed boost to sustain its daily gains.

Dividends : Lucky Cement has announced on Wednesday its fiscal year 2009 (FY09) results. It has booked profits of Rs4.6 billion, earning per share (EPS) of Rs14.21 versus Rs2.7 billion (diluted EPS of Rs8.28) in FY08 showed a handsome growth of 72 per cent. The company has announced a final cash dividend of 40%…. The News

News : The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has imposed a fine of Rs2 million on United Bank (UBL) for failing to comply with the provisions of Listing Regulations of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)…..The SECP had served a show-cause notice to the UBL on March 12 for allegedly placing financial results for the period ending December 31, 2008 on its website before dissemination of financial results to the KSE while the board meeting was still in progress….The News

Market Low : 7,796.22  High : 7,896.19

Market Close : 7,834.69 — 38.47 points up

 

 

Results / Dividends for August 2009

Lucky Cement : 40% Cash - EPS : 14.21

Attock Petroleum : 150% Cash - EPS : 53.51

MCB Bank : 25% Cash - EPS : 11.22

Allied Bank : 20% Cash - EPS : 4.30

Pakistan State Oil : EPS : -39.05

Hub Power Co. : 20% Cash - EPS : 3.27

Nestle Pakistan : 300% Cash - EPS : 33.74

OGDC : 25% Cash - EPS : 12.91

7,796

August 4, 2009

7,796

News : Lucky Cement Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest producer, plans to start its first overseas factory in Africa by 2011 to take advantage of a construction boom. “The African market is where the future growth for Pakistan lies,” Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Ali Tabba said yesterday in an interview in Karachi. “Demand is growing and there are not many plants in the region.”…“Lucky has the first-mover advantage in capacity building, exploring export markets and providing better quality with competitive prices,”…Lucky, which accounts for a third of Pakistan’s overseas cement sales, exported 57 percent of its production to the Middle East, Africa, Sri Lanka, India and Afghanistan in the nine months ended March 31.

Sales to India, Sri Lanka and Egypt will continue to grow, as demand from the Middle East slows, Tabba said. The cement maker’s full-year profit may rise 60 percent, First Capital’s Khan estimated. The company is expected to announce full-year earnings tomorrow…. Bloomberg

Market Low : 7,716.99  High : 7,817.42

Market Close : 7,796.22 — 79.23 points up

 

 

7,716

August 3, 2009

7,716

News : Stock brokers are about to convince authorities to re-launch the same leverage product (after rectifying it) on the Karachi bourse, which they had banned in April this year. They had identified the product as the main cause of 2008 historic crisis. The product was called the Continuous Funding System Mark-II (CFS MK-II). And this time the authorities (KSE & SECP) are naming it Margin Financing (MF)….One of the major differences between the internationally practiced MF and the local MF is the involvement of brokers in between financers (lenders) and financees (borrowers),… In conventional MF, the banks are the only eligible financing party to many potential stocks investors and there is no middle man role available (e.g. stockbrokers) in between the two.
    While in the proposed MF, brokers would bridge between financers and financees. In this system, unlike the conventional MF, any financially sound individual or institution can be the financer. They may include the stockbrokers themselves, banks (conventional & non-conventional), mutual fund(s) managing companies, leasing companies, mudaraba companies and etc, subject to the approval of Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
    But the major hurdle in launching the world wide practiced MF product here in Pakistan is that banks are reluctant to directly finance stocks investors, one of the senior professionals told with the condition of anonymity.In conventional MF, the total risk is owned by banks and if borrower (client) loses the lender too. But to remain safe from losing in a bear market, banks collect deposit of a certain percentage on the total amount of financing from the share purchaser e.g. 30 per cent (called margins), he explains and adds, margins are maintained upto the banks’ demand as per changes taking place in the share price.
The equal chances of losing financed money are also there in the local MF (Badla financing or CFS MK-II), but in this system the risk is owned by the middlemen i.e. broker and/or product manager like National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) and/or KSE, he added….
Arif Habib, another former chairman-KSE, is of the view that the availability of modified CFS MK-II (e.g. CFS MK-III) is must in market to avoid downsizing at brokerage houses, which cannot continue to sustain with thin turnover in a cash strapped market these days.Habib is believed to be leading brokers seeking the resumption of CFS MK-II like product in the market after incorporating so many meaningful changes to make the product viable….
The News

Market Low : 7,679.21  High : 7,771.87

Market Close : 7,716.99 — 3.94 points down 

 

Board Meetings for August 2009

August 1, 2009

Lucky Cement (LUCK) : 5th

Attock Petroleum : (APL) : 6th

MCB Bank (MCB) : 8th 

Allied Bank (ABL) : 11th 

Hub Power Co. (HUBCO) : 12th

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) 

Nestle Pakistan (NESTLE) 

Oil & Gas Development Co. (OGDC ) : 13th