01

BUSINESS

BTuesday, 16 April, 2013

PtCL posts profitof rs 3.33 billionfor first quarterISLAMABAD: The Pakistan

Telecommunication Company Limited

(PTCL) on Monday announced Rs 3.33

billion profit for the first quarter ended

on March 31, 2013, registering an

increase of 39.22 per cent against

Rs.2.39 billion in the same period of

the last year. The profit of company

was surged due to increase of

revenue, other operating income and

a decline of selling and marketing

expenses. The revenue of the

company stood at Rs 32.18 billion,

witnessing an increase of 13.89 per

cent in the first quarter when

compared it with Rs.28.25 billion of

the same periods of the

last year. In the

same way, the

other

operating

income has

also

shown a

surge by

75.40

percent

from Rs

0.70 billion

for the period

ended on March

31, 2012 to Rs 1.23

billion in the same period of

the current year. Aside from this,

selling and marketing expenses

recorded at Rs 1.99 billion in first

quarter of 2013, showing a decrease

against Rs 2.01 billion during the

period under view. The company has

declared Rs.0.65 earning per share

(EPS) in the current year against Rs

0.47 EPS of the last year. According to

the result announced by PTCL, neither

cash dividend nor bonus was

announced by the company for first

quarter of 2013. Talking to APP, Stock

Analyst of Aba Ali Habib Pvt Ltd,

Zaheer Ahmed said that the result

announced by PTCL was not satisfactory

but it was at improving position. “The

market was expecting more the profit

with dividends to be announced by the

company but it did not due to decline of

revenue which was to be generated

from International calls”, he added.

ISLAMABAD

APP

thE Water and PowerDevelopment Authority(WAPDA) has startedconstruction work on Darawat

and Nai Gaj dams in Sindh. Accordingto an official of WAPDA, the damswould irrigate over 25,000 barren landof hyderabad and Daddu. Theconstruction of site camps iscompleted including soil investigationof dam and spillway sites. TheDarawat dam is located at about 70kilometers west of hyderabad and 135

kilometers North East of Karachiacross Nai Baran near Jhangir villagein Jamshoro district of Sindh. To a question, the official said the damwill help conserve flood water of NaiBaran and irrigate 25,000 acres offertile land, adding that the dam willhelp socio economic uplift of remoteareas of Sindh and womenemancipation and especially fisheriesdevelopment.To another question of financialprogress, he said PSDP allocation forfinancial year 2012-13 for constructingdams in Sindh are Rs 2000,000 millionand expenditure up to February, 2013

were Rs 2027.414million andcumulativeexpenditures up toFebruary 2013 wereRs 4334.677 million.Topographic survey ofdam, command area andreservoir area is completedand excavation for foundation ofdam is completed, he said. he saidconcrete pouring work of the dam wasin progress and 92 percent work iscompleted and construction ofirrigation system is in progress and 15percent completed.

Talking about NaiGaj dam projecthe said this dam isproposed across

Gaj River in thegorge area at the

edge of Kirthar rangeabout 65 kilo meter north

west of Dadu city in Sindhprovince. To a question, he said

the objective of this dam to irrigateagriculture development and floodcontrol and fisheries development anduplift socio economic conditionsinspiring emancipation of women andpoor community of the area.

DArAWAt AnD nAi GAjDAms in sinDh

WAPDA starts construction of

darawat dam wiLL hELP ConSErvEFLood watEr oF naiBaran and irrigatE

25,000 aCrES oFFErtiLE Land

ProFit SurgES duE to inCrEaSE oF

rEvEnuE, othEroPErating inComE and

dECLinE oF SELLingand markEting

ExPEnSES

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Interiors Pakistan Expo 2013(IPE 2013) was held at Lahoreexpo the other day in which over40 furniture manufacturers andinterior designers exhibited theirwork. The event that wasinaugurated by renownedarchitect and patron of artsNayyer Ali Dada was first of itskind in Pakistan. IPE 2013 is an initiative taken topromote the art of furnituremaking in Pakistan with an aimto endorse it amongstinternational competitors.Serving as platform for upcominginteriors designers, the exhibition

gave an opportunity to leadingand young entrepreneurs alike.Amongst the exhibitors wereCharagh Din and Co, Tina Khan,Urban Elements, Mohkam, NMFurnitures, Dareechey, ForgottenCrafts and The Lounge. Interiordesign students from PakistanInstitute of Fashion and Designalso presented their creations. Open to public, the exhibitionattracted 75,000 spectators. MaryJane, visitor from the UK said,“This exhibition is an eye-openergiving us insight into theamazing work of Pakistanfurniture industry. It has given usa chance to see different works ofart under one roof. Fromindigenous to contemporary, weare amazed to see the talent andskill in this country.” IPE, under the banner of PakistanFurniture Council, aims topromote export of Pakistanifurniture abroad. Layingemphasis on workshops, tutorialsand internship programs, theboard at PFC has invitedfurniture manufactures to join

hands together in order to buildsecure future and strengthen theindustry. Rizwan Amjad, one of thedirectors of PFC andowner of NationalFurniture, said, “InteriorsPakistan Expo will be heldevery six months in allmajor cities of Pakistan.Under the banner of PFC, weplan to organize workshopsand tutorials for both interiordesigns and craftsmen topromote skill and talent.Additionally, we plan toarrange scholarship program tohelp students. A strongerindustry will help boosteconomy, create jobopportunities from high skilllevel to low in order to buildpromising future.” InteriorsPakistan Expo 2013 has come asreinforcement of furnituremanufacturing in Pakistan. Thecouncil has laid stress on use ofsheesham wood in cheapfurniture, affect of inflation,economic instability and lack of

opportunities to promote skillandcraftsmanshipon internationallevel.

Full gas pressuredemanded fortextile industry

FAISALABAD

APP

The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association(PTEA) has demanded the gas supply tothe industry with full pressure, enabling ex-porters to fulfil their commitments withforeign buyers.

Criticising extreme low gas pressure to theFaisalabad industry here Monday, PTEAChairman Asghar Ali and Vice ChairmanMuhammad Asif said that low gas pressurehad been hitting industrial production and thetextile industry was unable to operate.

They said that industrial units in differentindustrial clusters of Faisalabad like Khurri-anwala, Sargodha Road and Sammundri Roadwere facing extremely low gas pressure which

was severely affecting theirproduction and they wereunable to operate and keepover one million jobs.

They said low pressurewould cause the tex-tile sector loss ofone billion rupees

every day in exportrevenues and value

addition in the region.They proposed the

supply gas to CNG andindustrial sectors on dif-

ferent days to tackle thelow pressure problem.The government shouldalso remain in touch withall stakeholders to savethe industry from collapseand to formulate a strongstrategy for the future, theyadded and demanded to in-crease the gas supply to in-

dustries at least five days a week as theweather had changed.

Furniture exhibition kicks off in Lahore InterIor PakIstanexPo 2013 aIms atPromotIngPakIstanIfurnIture abroad

ISLAMABAD

APP

The Securities and Exchange Commis-sion of Pakistan (SECP) registered 383new limited liability companies inMarch, bringing the total corporate port-folio to 61,887 companies. According toa statement issued by the Commissionhere Monday, compared with precedingmonth, 8% growth in corporate registra-

tion has been witnessed. The growthwitnessed is a result of persistent effortsput forth by the SECP in order to pro-mote corporatization in the country, in-cluding holding of various seminarswith all stakeholders, awareness cam-paigns and facilitation extended.

Chasing the previous trend, around93 percent companies registered as pri-vate limited companies, while around6% companies registered as single-

member companies during the month.Due to the SECP’s facilitatation

regime for foreign investors including,fast-track provisional registration ofcompanies having foreign directorship,considerable foreign investment hasbeen witnessed by nationals from Ger-many, Panama, China, the UK, theNetherlands, North Korea, Russia,Syria, Turkey, Italy and Japan, in 12new local companies.

Corporatisation upbeat rate continues: SECP

16-17 Business Pages (16-04-2013)_Layout 1 4/16/2013 6:36 AM Page 1

BUSINESSTuesday, 16 April, 2013

KhushhaliBanksupports womenentrepreneurs atislamabad Expo 2013

ISLAMABAD: Khushhalibank participated in the 3rd

Islamabad Expo 2013 organised by Islamabad

Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

showing their untiring support and commitment to

budding women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion Caretaker Federal Minister

for Commerce and Textile Maqbool H Rahmatoola

stressed on the need for increasing export of value-

added items for the survival of the country. He said

that the government is working on increasing

exports while focusing on small and medium

enterprises. He said the business community lags

behind in value addition, which is imperative to

increase the economic value and consumer appeal

of a product. “Women must understand that value

added product has more market value than raw

commodity,” he said. The exhibition aims to build

linkages between the women from various cities

and between rural and urban entrepreneurs, linking

e women entrepreneurs with buyers from various

areas, providing exposure and promoting women’s

manufactured products, providing marketing

opportunities to women to strengthen their financial

positions, bringing the potential products in the

eyes of the concerned departments of government

and various international agencies/ diplomats of

foreign missions present in Islamabad.

Khushhalibank President Ghalib Nishtar said, “The

Exhibition is fast becoming recognised as a great

opportunity for promotion of women-led businesses

in national and international community as most of

the bilateral and multilateral agencies have their

offices in Islamabad and could play a role in

supporting as well as providing linkages for growth

of women led businesses”. PRESS RELEASE

EPZA opens liaisonoffices in 12 citiesKARACHI: In a bid to promote investment culture

all over the country, Export Processing Zones

Authority Pakistan has opened Liaison Offices in the

premises’ of Chambers of Commerce of twelve

important cities spread in all four provinces. This is

an important step which will prove instrumental in

resolving investment and export related problems

of local businessmen. While commenting on this

accomplishment of task which was set in EPZA’s

Board of Director meeting held in September 2012,

Mr. Saadat S. Cheema, Chairman, EPZA said that

we have set a new vision for our organization with

an aim to get closer with our investors sitting in

any part of the country. Now our slogan is “FROM

ONLY KARACHI TO ALONGWITH KARACHI” which is

a clear reflection of our desire to join hands

through local chambers of commerce with the local

business community for boosting export based

industrialization, generation of employment and

commercial opportunities. According to the details

in the North Region, the liaison offices have been

opened at Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mirpur (AJK),

Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujrat and Multan. Whereas

in the South Region, the liaison offices have been

opened at Sukkar, Hyderabad, Larkana, Shaheed

Benazirabad, and Quetta. PRESS RELEASE

maria’s salon opens

in Karachi

KARACHI: The launch of Maria’s Salon & Institute

was held on April 5 in Karachi. The event was

organised by “Createch”. A make-up presentation

was organised in which models including Sadaf

Hamid, Fouzia, Sadaf Kanwal and Abeer wore the

“Zaheer Abbas” label. Make up was done by Maria.

Several famous socialites and models attended the

event including Tara dawood, Nazneen Tariq,

Arjumand Rahim, Mrs Behroz Sabzwari and Saira

Lakhani. PRESS RELEASE

Etihad Airwaysannounces firstquarter resultsKARACHI: Etihad Airways, which this year

celebrates its 10th anniversary of operations, has

recorded its strongest ever passenger and cargo

results for a first quarter. The Abu Dhabi-based

airline posted Q1 2013 passenger revenues of $900

million (2012: US$758 million), an increase of 19 per

cent; and cargo revenues of US$193 million (2012:

US$165 million), an increase of 17 per cent.

Passenger numbers in Q1 2013 grew by 18 per cent,

rising from 2.3 million to a record 2.8 million. The

average seat factor was 80.5 per cent, four

percentage points higher than the previous year

(2012: 76.5 per cent), despite a 12 per cent increase

in capacity. The seat factor is above IATA’s current

global average of 77.1 per cent. PRESS RELEASE

state Life pays rs 24.36bn to 13, 552families in claims

ISLAMABAD: State Life Insurance Corporation of

Pakistan in the year 2012;has paid total amount of

Rs.24.36 billion against all claims, thus providing

financial protection and savings to thousands of

valued policyholders and their families nationwide.

This was stated by Shahid Aziz Siddiqi, Chairman

State Life, on the occasion of State Life Convention

2013 held at Bhurban Murree. Executive Directors

Mukhtar Hussain Soomro, Talat Waseem, Izqar Khan

and Rashid and senior corporate executives were

also present on the occasion. He said that State Life

in the year 2012had secured record total premium

and investment income of Rs.89.71 billion up from

Rs. 75.77; showing an unprecedented increase of

18%, while the total premium has increased from

Rs. 45.03 in 2011 to Rs. 53.913 billion in 2012;

showing an increase of 20%”. Shahid Aziz Siddiqui

said that State Life is a public sector organization

which is not a burden on the national exchequer. In

fact State Life is playing a pivotal role in providing

financial protection to millions of families through

life insurance. PRESS RELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Pakistan can achieve $15bn trade target

set for 2015. — Masood Khalid,

Pakistan’s envoy to China

Major Gainers

ComPany oPEn high Low CLoSE ChangE turnovErmurree brewery 200.01 210.01 207.00 210.01 10.00 83,000gillette Pak 185.72 195.00 195.00 195.00 9.28 4,000atlas battery Ltd. 289.59 298.00 286.69 298.00 8.41 1,200atlas Honda Ltd 189.38 198.84 191.00 197.03 7.65 62,500sanofi-aventis sPot 457.23 463.01 457.23 463.00 5.77 700

Major Losersbata (Pak) xd 1840.00 1820.00 1748.00 1748.00 -92.00 250Wyeth Pak Ltd xd 1249.53 1255.00 1187.06 1187.06 -62.47 1,950mithchellsfruit 379.00 370.00 360.05 360.05 -18.95 2,100Philip morris Pak. 324.38 311.25 308.17 308.17 -16.21 5,100national foodsxd 354.00 341.50 336.30 340.00 -14.00 3,600

Volume Leaders

trg Pakistan Ltd. 8.31 8.59 7.95 8.01 -0.30 19,657,500maple Leaf Cement 18.52 18.60 17.52 17.58 -0.94 10,703,500P.t.C.L.a 21.23 21.00 20.17 20.17 -1.06 10,239,000telecard Limited 5.57 5.68 5.01 5.05 -0.52 7,719,500Pak elektron Ltd. 13.04 13.75 12.04 12.04 -1.00 7,694,000

Interbank Ratesusd Pkr 98.3294gbP Pkr 150.5619JPY Pkr 1.0026euro Pkr 128.5066

ForexBuy SELL

uk Pound sterling 148.5 149.5euro 127 128.5australian dollar 102.56 103.25us dollar 98.85 99.05Canadian dollar 96.5 96.75Japanese Yen 1.0084 1.0189saudi riyal 26.15 26.4uae dirham 26.75 27China Yuan 13.5 14

KARACHI: Former chairman Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP), Yahya Polani

presenting a memento to Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) President Muhammad

Haroon Agar. Also seen in photograph are Indonesian Consul General Rossails Rusman Adenan,

KCCI Senior Vice President, Shamim Firpo, Nasir Mehmood and Irfan Ahmed. PR

Pakistan team to hold talks with imF, Usofficials this week

ISLAMABAD

AGENCIES

Ahigh-level Pakistani delegation will travelto Washington this week for talks withIMF and US officials on the country’sstruggling economy, officials said Mon-day.

The troubled nuclear-armed state, heading for ageneral election on May 11, has seen its foreign ex-change reserves dwindle and currency slide and hasbeen expected to seek a fresh bailout package fromthe IMF. The IMF bailed Pakistan out in November2008 with an $11.3 billion loan package to stave offa balance of payments crisis, but Pakistan aban-doned the deal in 2011, refusing to carry out strictfinancial reforms.

The April 17-22 visit will be led by the primeminister’s advisor on finance, Shahid AmjadChaudhry, who is the de facto finance minister inthe caretaker set-up running Pakistan before theelection. As a World Bank and IMF member, Pak-istan’s participation is “mandatory” but the delega-tion will use the opportunity to discuss the country’seconomy with their officials in Washington, a fi-nance ministry spokesman said.

“We will engage with them and update them onmacroeconomic data,” he said, though he refused tocomment on local media reports saying the teamwould seek a new IMF package.

The team will also meet State Department offi-cials in Washington to discuss payments of theCoalition Support Fund, money paid by the US tocompensate Pakistan for its fight against Islamistmilitants.

Islamabad has paid back more than $2 billion inloans to the IMF, but analysts say the repaymentsstrain the rupee and drain reserves, which neither re-mittances nor Coalition Support Fund payments canmake up for. The IMF has urged Pakistan to reduceits large budget deficit to bolsterthe struggling economy.Pakistan’s growth re-mains too weak, un-d e r l y i n ginflationis highand thetrade bal-ance isheading in thewrong direc-tion, the IMFsaid in a statementin November.

Pakistan, s Africato lift trade by upto $1 billion

ISLAMABAD

APP

Pakistan and South Africa on Monday seta moderate bilateral trade target of $1billion until 2015 that would be achievedby improving trade mechanism betweenthe two countries. At present, the tradebetween the two countries is verynominal as South Africa’s trade withworld is $75 to $80 billion and its tradewith Pakistan is less than one percent ofits total trade. “We can even surplus theset trade target if trade mechanism isimproved,” Deputy Director GeneralAsia and Middle-East, Department ofInternational Relations and CooperationAnil Sookal said at the third session ofPak-South Africa Joint Commissionmeeting. The third session of Pak-SouthAfrica Joint Commission meeting washeld here Monday during which progresson about eight memorandums ofunderstanding (MoUs) was discussed. Inlight of the understanding reached earlierat the second joint commission meeting,substantive deliberations took place inthe meeting in a cordial and constructivemanner on a number of relevant aspectsrelating to the bilateral trade, enhancedeconomic cooperation and identifyingareas of mutual cooperation. Both sidesagreed for close interaction betweenvarious ministries to deliberate in-depthon related aspects and propose concretesteps to move forward.

16-17 Business Pages (16-04-2013)_Layout 1 4/16/2013 6:37 AM Page 2