01 BUSINESS B Friday, 22 February, 2013 US should increase investment in Pakistanâs energyâ agriculture and livestock sectors. â President Asif Zardari ISLaMaBaD INP F EDERAL Secretary for Production Gul Mohammad Rind admitted that Pak- istan Steel Mills was utilising only 12% of its produc- tion capacity while two billion rupees was being used every month as salary for twenty thousand em- ployees. He added that at present the or- ganisation was suffering a loss of one billion rupees every month. Replying to a host of questions by media personnel on Thursday, the produc- tion secretary hoped that Pakistan Steel was expected to attain 30% production in the next few months. He said National Bank of Pakistan has not turned down the request of a three billion loan to the Steel Mills and a summary has been moved to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet for approval. He said there were financial problems in purchasing raw material from Iran as the Iranian company had demanded that ar- rears be cleared first and then it will enter into a new deal due to which the produc- tion was affected. The secretary said when the bail out package was given, Pak Steel Mills Administration had committed to raise the production to 25% but it failed to honour its promise. He said raw material has now been purchased from Australia and soon two ships would reach Karachi port. Once the material is available, the production would be increased from 12% to 30%. To a question, the secretary said a del- egation of Ministry of Production would be going to Russia to discuss the expansion of Steel Mills with Russian officials. Pak Steel Mills production at 12% despite bailout ORGANISATION SUFFERING MONTHLY LOSS OF ONE BILLION RUPEES KARACHI: A ship carrying 55,000 met- ric tonnes of iron ore for Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) reached Port Qasim Pakistan Steel Jetty from Australia. The cargo unloading was started through the 4.2 km conveyer belt from the jetty to Pakistan Steel raw material stock- yard. The PSM opened LC of $ 8.3 mil- lion to M/S Cargill International for the ship arrived Thursday. According to a PSM spokesman, pres- ent management of Pakistan Steel was making arrangements for maintaining timely supply chain of raw material and floated several tenders for iron ore out of which 3 tenders were finalised and the first shipment of 55,000 MT iron ore in the current year arrived successfully. Besides all these efforts, the usage of local iron ore is also on-going to run the production wheel. The spokesman said according to recently signed contracts, ar- rival of further shipments of iron ore in coming days is also expected. He added that this continuity in the supply chain of raw materials will help PSM to increase its production utilisation, and overcome other issues. Pakistan Steel has succeeded in signing 3 contracts, each of 55, 000 MT iron ore with 2 companies of Singapore including M/S Cargill and M/S Swiss Singapore. PSM imports 55,000MT Australian iron ore at $8.3m Lahore ONlINE The United States (US) Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez visited Mangla Power Station to review firsthand, the contribution US assistance funds are making to help alle- viate energy crisis in Pakistan. US Am- bassador in Pakistan Richard Olson also accompanied him during the visit. The visit was conducted in the con- text of the US commitment for providing financial assistance up to $ 150 million for refurbishment and up-gradation of Mangla Hydel Power Station. Speaking on the occasion, Senator Menendez stated that, âthe American people are proud to support large-scale energy projects in Pakistan that will add 900 MW of power to the national grid by the end of this year, enough power to sup- ply electricity to more than two million households across the country.â Earlier, Federal Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi, thanking the US for the support in power sector, informed Senator Menendez of the power situation in Pakistan and the measures being taken by the government to overcome electric- ity shortages and improve the ratio of low-cost electricity in the national grid. WAPDA Chairman Syed Raghib Shah dilating upon the details of Mangla Power Station apprised the guests that WAPDA had undertaken refurbishment and up-gradation of the power house in view of aging factor of the generating equipment, and availability of additional water due to the raising of Mangla Dam. This will not only help rehabilitate the power house but also increase its genera- tion capacity from 1000 MW to 1310 MW, resulting in average annual incre- ment of 1,632 million units low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid. The task, currently underway, will be com- pleted in phases with an estimated cost of US $ 400 million, he added. Engro offers reduction in Urea price ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordina- tion Committee (ECC) is expected to make a decision in its meeting on Friday that will save farmers Rs 34.2 billion annually and keep food inflation in check in the country. Officials said that in a meeting with the top government officials, Engro Corpora- tion offered to reduce urea prices by Rs. 300 per bag if government fulfils its con- tractual obligations to Engro. In 2012, Engro Fertilizerâs efficient and state of the art $1.1 billion dollar plant re- ceived only 9% of its gas allocation in a blatant violation of its water tight gas con- tract with SNGPL. As a company across all sectors it has received the least amount of gas in the year. Since 2010, the government has supplied gas to other sectors and vested interest groups, many of whom do not even have gas supply agreements. Furthermore, they have provided gas to other sectors in com- plete violation of the governmentâs own Gas Allocation Policy. As a last resort in 2011, Engro went to the Sindh High Court who passed judgment that gas should be given to Engro per its contractual commit- ment and Article 158 of the constitution. The government did not act on the Sindh High Court order. As a result farmers have had to bear the brunt of expensive urea which has caused food prices to escalate. In 2010 the price of urea was Rs 800 per bag which is now Rs 1,670 (inclusive of GST). Engroâs offer to reduce price by Rs 300 will bring down the price of a urea bag to 1370 (inclusive of GST). During the meeting, Engro once again ar- ticulated that it is ready to start the Thar coal project and help solve the energy cri- sis in the country but it could not do so while the government is in breach of its gas contract. ONlINE LPG prices slashed by Rs15 per kilogramme ISLAMABAD: The price of the LPG was slashed by Rs15 per kilogramme after which the price of a residential cylinder has been cut by Rs170 while the price of a com- mercial cylinder has gone down by Rs 650. This was stated by the LPG Distributors As- sociation Chairman Irfan Khokhar who fur- ther said that LPG prices are expected to be reduced even more within the next few days. LPG would be available at 40-50 per- cent lower price than that of petrol and diesel, he added. After the price reduction the new price of LPG in Karachi and Hyderabad would be Rs115 per kilogramme while the price of a residential cylinder would be Rs1,330. In Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan, Bhawalpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal the new price would be Rs120 per kilogramme while the price of residential cylinder would be Rs1,390. Meanwhile, the new LPG price in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Jhelum and Gjjrat would be Rs125 per kilogramme while resi- dential cylinder would cost Rs1,450. The new LPG price in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Murree would be Rs 130 per kilogramme while a residential cylinder would be available at Rs1,510. The new LPG price in Gilgit, FATA, Azad Jammu & Kashmir would be Rs135 per kilogramme while a residential cylinder would be available at Rs1,570. INP KSE tracks a global fall; rupee frail against USD KARACHI: Pakistanâs stock market closed lower on Thursday after a correction in global stock markets. The Karachi Stock Exchangeâs (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended 0.15 percent, or 26.05 points, lower at 17,921.02. Telecom stocks like Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation, Telecard Ltd and World Call Telecom rose after a court decision approved recently raised international call rates. Profit taking was seen in cement and oil stocks, said a dealer. Pakistan Telecommunication Corpo- ration rose 4.97 percent to 22.83 rupees and World Call Telecom was up 19.61 percent at 3.72 rupees. The rupee ended weaker at 98.13/98.18 against the dollar, compared to Wednesdayâs close of 98.04/98.09. Overnight rates in the money market rose to 8.50 percent from Wednesdayâs close of 7.25 percent. STAFF REPORT Tax on incoming Intl calls: SC overrules LHC decision ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pak- istan on Thursday annulled a stay order of the Lahore High Court pertaining to collec- tion of additional tax on incoming interna- tional calls. According to a private television channel, a two-member bench of the LHC had issued a stay order against collection of additional tax by the Pakistan Telecommuni- cation Authority (PTA). The decision was later challenged in the Supreme Court by dif- ferent companies. NNI US proud to support large-scale energy projects in Pakistan 16-17 Business Pages (22-02-2013)_Layout 1 2/22/2013 6:28 AM Page 1 BUSINESS Friday, 22 February, 2013 Major Gainers COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVER UniLever Pak 10358.60 10560.00 10400.00 10560.00 201.40 900 Colgate Palmolive 1575.00 1600.00 1600.00 1600.00 25.00 350 Wyeth Pak Limited 945.00 960.00 920.00 960.00 15.00 150 Sapphire Textile 249.37 260.89 260.89 260.89 11.52 300 Murree Brewery 143.33 150.49 147.75 150.49 7.16 33,600 Major Losers Bata (Pak) 1480.00 1485.00 1450.00 1450.00 -30.00 300 Indus Dyeing SD 448.71 433.00 433.00 433.00 -15.71 100 National Foods 325.00 320.00 311.00 316.00 -9.00 3,200 Indus Motor Co 304.45 305.00 293.05 296.00 -8.45 6,500 Attock Petroleum Ltd 487.99 489.99 480.25 482.86 -5.13 30,100 Volume Leaders WorldCall Telecom 3.11 4.01 3.08 3.70 0.59 55,152,000 P.T.C.L.A 21.75 22.83 21.75 22.83 1.08 42,278,500 Jah.Sidd. Co. 18.30 19.19 18.10 18.88 0.58 32,584,500 Telecard Limited 5.10 6.10 5.02 6.10 1.00 30,298,500 Maple Leaf Cement 17.68 18.60 17.65 18.41 0.73 29,367,000 Interbank Rates USD PKR 98.0740 GBP PKR 149.2785 JPY PKR 1.0499 EURO PKR 129.3106 Forex BUY SELL US Dollar 99.2 99.5 Australian Dollar 102 103 Canadian Dollar 97.7 98 UK Pound Sterling 154.3 155 Euro 132.2 132.7 Japanese Yen 1.055 1.11 Saudi Riyal 26.4 26.7 China Yuan 13.5 14 UAE Dirham 26.95 27.2 ICI Pakistan Limited appoints Asif Jooma as Chief Executive KARACHI: The Board of ICI Pakistan Limited announced the appointment of Asif Jooma as Chief Executive of the company effective February 25, 2013. Asif Jooma started his career in the corporate sector with ICI Pakistan in 1983. He brings with him over 28 years of extensive experience in senior commercial and leadership roles. Following early years with ICI Pakistan and subsequently Pakistan PTA Limited, Asif Jooma was appointed Managing Director of Abbot Laboratories Pakistan Limited in 2007. He has previously served as President, American Business Council (ABC), President of Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI) and Chairman of Pharma Bureau. He also serves as a Director on NIB Bank Limited, Engro Fertilizers Limited and Board of Investment and Executive Committee of BOI â Government of Pakistan. Commenting on the announcement, Asif Jooma expressed his commitment to drive the company towards maximizing shareholder value and added: âI am excited to be taking over the leadership of a company that has such a significant footprint and corporate brand equity. With over 69 years of solid performance and successful presence, ICI Pakistan today is recognized as a symbol of corporate excellence. I believe that through a combination of further leveraging our existing businesses and exploiting future opportunities for organic growth and diversification, we will be embarking on a journey of aspiration and ambition. Our responsibility to all our stakeholders will form the cornerstone of our activities and future actions. Following the acquisition by Lucky Holdings Limited, ICI Pakistan is now a part of YBG, a conglomerate with diversified interest in building material, textiles and power sector. PR ICI Pakistan posts Rs 893 million profit after tax for 2012 KARACHI: The Board of Directors of ICI Pakistan Limited is pleased to announce the financial results for the year ended December 31, 2012. The company posted net sales income of PKR 34.7 billion for the year which is 2% lower than last year mainly due to lower volumes and prices in the Polyester Business where volumes were dampened due to deteriorating energy crises affecting downstream demand. Operating results were down by 37% primarily on account of lower PSF volumes and significant reduction in margin over feedstock. The results were further dragged down due to extended gas outages in the Polyester and Soda Ash Business resulting in incremental expenditure on expensive alternate fuel amounting to approximately PKR 407 million. Profit after tax from continuing operations at PKR 893 million is 42% lower than last year and EPS (earnings per share) from continuing operations at PKR 9.67 was 27% lower than last year. PR ZONG employees spend a day with mentally challenged children ISLAMABAD: ZONG employees under its Corporate Volunteerism Programme recently visited Chambeli Institute of Mentally Challenged Children and Physiotherapy Center located in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi. The Institute has around 50 mentally challenged children enrolled in it and has a staff of 20 people to manage and help with these children. It was a full day event which comprised of many fun filled activities like face painting, musical chairs, tableau by children, 3-legged race, spoon & ball race and dancing competition. Children participated with great enthusiasm while volunteers from ZONG compassionately arranged all these activities with help of the instituteâs staff. Children also watched a cartoon movie on the multimedia and later on excitedly received gifts, food items and goodie bags which were being distributed by ZONG employees. Each child was presented stationery items, coloring box set, glitter pens and coloring books along with scrumptious delights to make this day a memorable one for them. PR 135 families in Swat benefit from IKF Village Development Program LAHORE: The Imran Khan Foundation (IKF) has successfully completed its Village Development Program in four villages of Swat. During this project the IKF helped to rebuild the lives of 135 families whose homes/lives were destroyed during the 2010 floods in Pakistan. During the 18month program, 145 homes have been constructed, using concrete blocks, which will not just be flood water resistant but are also designed to be earthquake proof. In addition, a micro-hydel power plant has been installed to cater to the electricity needs of the 4 villages, Draboo, Damana, Ariana & Qandeel. PR Bank of Punjab to launch Islamic Banking LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab is set to achieve another milestone when it launches Islamic banking in its operations. Apart from shoring up tangible support for the bank in the last four years, the Chief Minister also engendered an environment in the bank that ensured zero tolerance for corruption and eliminated government interference in the bankâs affairs. The Chief Minister Punjab has thus been principally responsible for restoring bankâs trust and goodwill amongst its customers. In such an environment, backed by prudent financial management through a team of committed professionals the bank has grown from strength to strength during this time leading to growth in deposits from Rs.164billion to Rs.266 billion, growth in branch network to 306 branches across Pakistan, handling home remittances of Rs.176 billion (USD2billion), lead arrangement for wheat procurement worth Rs.248 billion, new relationships numbering 545,598 in this period, largest portfolio of Vehicle financing, now in excess of 20,000 vehicles, apart from all-round growth in numbers, the bank has also invested in quality in its human resource in terms of both hiring and training. Also, branches have undergone major refurbishment, with renovations of older facilities and introduction of modern, new branches â all with a view to enhancing the end-to-end experience of its customers with the bank. Having successfully accomplished the turnaround in the bank after four years of unrelenting commitment to achieve it, the bank is now poised to take further new initiatives. One such significant initiative is adding a new business stream by entering the Islamic banking sector. In response to its request, the State Bank of Pakistan has granted approval to adopt the institutional model of providing Islamic banking products and services through standalone Islamic branches. This business is to be managed by a separate Islamic Banking Division (IBD) in BoP. State Bank of Pakistan has already granted approval for conversion of five branches into Islamic branches by June 30, 2013 and the Bank intends to expand its network of Islamic branches by another ten branches in the remainder of 2013. BoP is earnestly looking forward to serve the growing demand of its existing as well as prospective customers who have a preference for Islamic banking. In doing so, its IBD will adopt the best business practices and make itself a robust business unit with a premium on abiding compliance of Shariah guidelines. The bank is confident it will catch up with its peers in the not too distant future and become the bank of choice for Shariah conscious customers. PR Warid hires Latitude CRS for PR services LAHORE: Warid Telecom has signed on Lahore- based Latitude Corporate Relationship Solutions for the provision of public relations services. Latitude is a boutique public relations and relationship management consultancy that offers a range of services in the fields of public and corporate relations and media management. The agency was selected following a competitive pitch process, during which the Latitude team demonstrated its ability to build the strategic relationships and communications necessary for informing the public and other interest groups about the latest developments in Waridâs offerings and corporate standing. PR KARACHI: The Board HR Committee of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was convened on Wednesday at PSO House to review personnel related matters at the national oil giant. The meeting was chaired by Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig and was attended by Sohail W Siddiqui, Chairman PSO, Malik Naseem Hussain Lawbar, Wazir A Khoja, Sarfraz Bugti, Muhammad Azam, Naeem Y Mir, CEO&MD, PSO and Faisal Ahmed, Company Secretary. PR CORPORATE CORNER 02 B Recent policy initiatives have made Pakistan an investment-friendly country, particularly for the petroleum sector. â Dr Asim Hussain KaraChI ONlINE Agricultural credit disbursement by banks surged by 13.21 percent on year-on-year basis to Rs 169.42 bil- lion in the first seven months (July- January, 2013) of the current fiscal year (2012-13). In absolute terms, disbursement of credit to the agriculture sector in- creased by over Rs 19.77 billion in July-January, 2013 when compared with the total disbursement of Rs 149.65 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year. Overall credit disbursement by five major commercial banks in- cluding Allied Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited stood at Rs 89.65 billion in July-Jan- uary, 2013 as compared with Rs 82.46 billion disbursed in July-Jan- uary, 2012 depicting an increase of Rs 7.19 billion or 8.72 percent. Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), the largest specialised bank, disbursed a total of Rs 26.22 billion in July-January, 2013 as compared with Rs 26.36 billion dis- bursed in the same period of the last fiscal year. Punjab Provincial Coop- erative Bank Limited (PPCBL) dis- bursed Rs 4.65 billion in July-January, 2013 down by 6.46 percent when compared with Rs 4.98 billion disbursed in the same period of the last fiscal year. Fourteen domestic private banks also loaned a combined amount of Rs 38.81 billion in July-January, 2013 up by 33.85 percent as com- pared with Rs 28.99 billion dis- bursed in the same period of the last fiscal year. Five Microfinance Banks in- cluding Khushhali Bank Ltd., NRSP Microfinance Bank Ltd., The First Microfinance Bank Ltd., Pak Oman Microfinance Bank Ltd. and Tameer Microfinance Bank Ltd. disbursed agricultural loans amounting to Rs 10.06 billion during July-January, 2013 as compared to Rs 6.85 billion disbursed in the same period of the last fiscal year. It may be pointed out that the State Bank of Pakistan has provi- sionally set an indicative agricul- tural credit disbursement target of Rs 315 billion to banks for the cur- rent fiscal year. Agricultural credit disbursement surges by over 13 percent Discrimination on the go in countryâs industrial sector ISLAMABAD: Despite the deteriorating law and order situation in the coun- try resulting in turning away of large number of investors, the government hi- erarchy remains busy in benefiting specific people and companies. FBR has imposed 8% duty on polyethylene terephthalate resin and other products for the benefits of a certain company. In this regard, the letter from Transparency International (TI), the advice of Federal Minister Saleem Mandviwala and the policy note of the Competition Commission of Pakistan have also been ig- nored. At this TI showed its concerns but FBR did not take any notice of the matter, and thus the monopoly of the specific company continues. Industrial circles are of the view that the responsible officials must take notice of the matter, and the duty-structure must be equal for all companies. ONlINE PSO revenue swells by 37pc to Rs 630 billion in 1HFY13 KARACHI: The Board of Management of PSO convened Thursday at PSO House to review the companyâs performance over the first half of FY13 ranging from July to December 2012. The meeting was chaired by PSO Chairman Sohail W Siddiqui. In the period under review, PSOâs revenues rose to Rs 630 billion as compared to Rs 576 billion in the corresponding pe- riod last year, representing a growth of 9.34%. After tax earnings also wit- nessed significant improvement and increased to Rs 6.3 billion in 1HFY13 in comparison to Rs 4.6 billion in FY12 representing a healthy increase of nearly 37%. Keeping in view the companyâs financial performance over the past six months, the board announced a cash dividend of Rs 2.5 per share and bonus shares equivalent to 20% of shares held. STAFF REPORT 16-17 Business Pages (22-02-2013)_Layout 1 2/22/2013 6:28 AM Page 2