Mettis Global News

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 11, 2021 (MLN): The highlights of the important economic and business events that took place during the last week are in order so as to become acquainted with the recent developments in Pakistan’s economic and public policy.

• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s governor Dr. Reza Baqir in an interview with CNN on April 9, 2021, said that SBP is studying an option to launch its own digital currency in Pakistan.
• On the upside, Pakistan witnessed one of the smallest increases in public debt in the world after Covid due to the prudent and well-targeted fiscal response to COVID that includes re-allocation of spending to the most vulnerable through the landmark Ehsaas program.
• Jaffer Business Systems (JBS) acquired a significant share of ENA (Energy N Automation), a Green Tech, Power, and IoT startup by investing 300 million rupees. 
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation on Friday in which it injected Rs.1,650.10 Billion into the market for 7 Days.
• On Thursday, Finance Ministry said Pakistan entered the international capital market after a gap of over three years by successfully raising USD 2.5 billion through a multi-tranche transaction of 5-, 10- and 30-year Eurobonds.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve to expeditiously conclude the requisite legal process for the Pakistan Stream (North-South) Gas Pipeline project and commence the work as early as possible.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an auction on Wednesday in which it sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs.869.20 billion for 3 and 6 months.
• Given Pakistan’s observable characteristics in terms of economic size, level of development, remoteness, and factor endowments, it is estimated that Pakistan’s potential annual exports are at US$ 88.1 billion, about 4 times the actual current level, World Bank said in its recent report “Pakistan Development Update”
• The Federal Government started registering E- Vehicles (EVs) without any Fees in Islamabad Capital territory.
• On the electricity front, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday notified an increase of Rs 0.6416 per unit in power tariff on account of variations in the fuel charges for the month of February 2021.
• The government of Pakistan acquired an additional debt of Rs.14.74 billion during the week ended March 26, 2021, which brings its total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2021 to Rs.669.83 billion. As of the prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.655.09 billion.
• State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) unveiled its third five-year Strategic Plan for the Islamic Banking Industry.
• Adviser to PM for Commerce and Investment Ministry of Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood said that Commerce Ministry is finalizing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Uzbekistan in consultation with all the stakeholders.

Announcements:

• On the equity front, the management of Chashma Sugar Mills Limited approved to incorporate a new subsidiary company in the name of “Ultimate Whole Foods (Private) Limited” to set up mills for milling wheat, gram, other grains, cereals, bran, other allied products and value-added products and by-products such as biscuits, flakes, pasta, confectionery and other related by-products from flours of all kinds and description.
• Service Global Footwear Limited (SGFL) the largest footwear exporter of Pakistan since the last decade, closed its book-building successfully. The company witnessed historic book building as the IPO was over-subscribed by 5.8x with a strike price clocked in at Rs 53.2 per share, i.e. 40% higher than the floor price of Rs 38 per share.
• In order to have more visibility in the market, Treet Corporation Limited (TREET)  decided to sell up to 20 million Modaraba Certificates of its subsidiary; First Treet Manufacturing Modaraba (FTMM), to the general public through PSX.
• The Board of Directors of Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO), in its meeting held on April 8th, 2021, approved an amount of up to USD 31.4 million or the equivalent in PKR, towards conducting engineering, design, and technical studies including a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study in relation to the PDH-PP Project.
• Avanceon Limited (AVN) had been contracted to deploy a state-of-the-art fuel retail automation solution for one of the largest oil marketing companies in Pakistan. The fuel retail automation solution will be deployed on multiple sites and integrated with the customer’s central remote monitoring system.
•  Silk Bank, in an announcement to Exchange, said that Fauji Foundation will not be proceeding with the due diligence process of Silkbank Limited, in pursuance of its application to acquire the majority stake in the bank.
• Citi Pharma Limited (CPL)  applied for a listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
• Archroma Pakistan Limited (ARPL) informed via notification to Exchange that the company appointed Mr M. Veqar Arif as Chairman of the Board.
• BIPL Securities received a letter of Public Announcement of Intention (PAI) from AKD Securities Limited to acquire up to 11.4% ordinary shares of the company.
• The Board of Directors of JS Global Capital Limited proposed to purchase/buy back up to a maximum of 3,991,525 issued ordinary shares (13.06% of the total outstanding shares) of the company, having a face value of Rs10 each at a purchase price of Rs80 per share.
• Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF), in an announcement to Exchange, said the existing clinker capacity of brownfield clinker production line-3 located at Iskanderabad, which commenced its production on May 21, 2019, has been enhanced by 500 tons per day of clinker from 7,300 tons to 7,800 tons per day of clinker due to a debottlenecking and Balancing, Modernization and Replacement program.

Financial Results:

• Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL) unveiled its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020.  As per results, the company has posted net profits of Rs 223 million, depicting a significant increase of 26% YoY when compared to net profits of Rs 177 million in the same period last year.
• Pakistan International Airline Company Limited (PIA) announced that its net losses for CY20 have shrunk by 34% YoY to Rs 35.3 billion as compared to the losses of Rs 52.6 billion that the company incurred in the previous year.

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 11, 2021 (MLN): The benchmark KSE-100 index recuperated 885 points during the departed week or up by 2% WoW as the index closed at 45,186 points.

Stronger growth forecasts by IMF (FY22: 4.0%), acted as a catalyst to change investor sentiments followed by US$2.5bn inflows from Eurobond. The rising value of PKR and expectations of strong corporate profitability in the upcoming result season also supported the index. Moreover, news regarding the extension of the Debt Servicing Suspension Initiative (DSSI) till Dec’21 further fueled investors’ sentiments.

Cement emerged as the top gainer during the week as it added 280 points to the index on the expectation of stronger results amid higher retention prices during 3QFY21. This was followed by Technology & Communication (+256pts), Textile Composite (+77pts), engineering (+58pts) and Power Generation & Distribution Companies (+52pts). Scrip-wise positive contributors were TRG (+251pts), LUCK (+124pts), DGKC (+45pts), HUBC (+34pts) and NRL (+33pts).

Meanwhile, the KSE All Share Market Cap increased by Rs.92.17 billion or 1.18% over the week, being recorded at Rs. 7.92 trillion as compared to a Market Cap of Rs.7.83 trillion recorded last week.

Figures released by NCCPL showed that foreigners remained net sellers during the week as they sold net US$9.5 million worth of stocks during the week with foreign corporates doing the bulk of selling amounting to US$13.56 million.

On the domestic front, major buying was reported by Banks/ DFIs (US$3.15 million and Companies (US$2.5 million). Other significant transactions included US$2.4 million and US$1.1 million worth of stocks bought by Mutual Funds and Brokers respectively.

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 11, 2021 (MLN): The latest weekly roundup is here to update few financial and economic releases, providing a guide to monitor trends in the upcoming week.

• The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.6% during the week ended Apr 08, 2021 while the SPI increased by 18.43% compared to the corresponding period from last year.
• Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SAZEW) sold a total of 1,209 units of three-wheelers against the production of 1,193 units during the month of March 2021.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received the proceeds of the government’s US$2.5 billion Euro Bond issuance in its account.
• Pakistan's Forex Reserves decreased by USD 157.00 Million or 0.75% and the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at USD 20,679.40 Million on Apr 02, 2021.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Pakistan’s GDP growth at 1.5 percent in 2021 with a forecast of an 8.7 percent average rate of inflation in FY21 that contradicts sharply as it is higher than the government’s estimate of 6.5 percent.
• Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) received an increased investment of Rs41 billion by April 7 of this Fiscal year 2020-21 from the registered Premium Prize Bond of Rs 40,000 and Rs 25000 newly introduced by the institution.
• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday notified an increase of Rs 0.6416 per unit in power tariff on account of variations in the fuel charges for the month of February 2021.
• The federal government released Rs 98,328.079 million for National Highway Authority (NHA) road infrastructure schemes under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2020-2021 till April 2.
• The Central Government’s total debt inflated by Rs3.195 trillion or 10% YoY to Rs36. 6 trillion by end-February 2021 as opposed to Rs33.4 trillion recorded in February 2020.
• The government of Pakistan acquired an additional debt of Rs.14.74 billion during the week ended March 26, 2021, which brings its total net borrowing for the ongoing fiscal year 2021 to Rs.669.83 billion. As of the prior week, the government had borrowed a net sum of Rs.655.09 billion.
• The non-government sector borrowed another net sum of Rs.63.31 billion during the week ended March 26, 2021, which brings the cumulative net borrowing for ongoing fiscal year FY2021 to Rs.425.22 billion. The net borrowing as of the prior week was recorded at Rs.361.91 billion.
• The government released Rs1,686.644 million during the first nine months of the current fiscal year to execute petroleum sector projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2020-21).

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 9, 2021 (MLN): Bulls continue to steer the market today as the KSE-100 benchmark index pushed through the 45,000 level towards the end of session.

The positivity in the market was attributed to SBP’s chairman statement in which he indicated that interest rate will remain sticky at current level in near future, strengthened the investors’ confidence, Topline Securities said.

Based on this, the bourse closed with the increase of 455 points, taking the KSE-100 benchmark index to the 45,186 points, up by 1% compared to yesterday’s close.

The Index remained positive throughout the session touching an intraday high of 45,249.98

Of the 97 traded companies in the KSE100 Index 69 closed up 24 closed down, while 4 remained unchanged. Total volume traded for the index was 293.01 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Technology & Communication with 139 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 84 points, Cement with 51 points, Commercial Banks with 46 points and Textile Composite with 44 points.

The most points added to the index was by TRG which contributed 120 points followed by HBL with 29 points, POL with 28 points, NRL with 24 points and PPL with 22 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by Fertilizer with 70 points, Inv. Banks / Inv. Cos. / Securities Cos. with 24 points, Automobile Assembler with 2 points, Tobacco with 1 points and Glass & Ceramics with 1 points.

The most points taken off the index was by ENGRO which stripped the index of 69 points followed by DAWH with 28 points, BAHL with 7 points, INDU with 4 points and NATF with 4 points.

All Share Volume increased by 304.93 Million to 688.04 Million Shares. Market Cap increased by Rs.60.41 Billion.

Total companies traded were 404 compared to 391 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 286 closed up, 107 closed down while 11 remained unchanged.

Total trades increased by 38,460 to 181,461.

Value Traded increased by 7.37 Billion to Rs.25.34 Billion

April 9, 2021 (MLN): The management of Chashma Sugar Mills Limited has approved to incorporate a new subsidiary company in the name of "Ultimate Whole Foods (Private) Limited" to set up mills for milling wheat, gram, other grains, cereals, bran, other allied products and value-added products and by-products such as biscuits, flakes, pasta, confectionery and other related by-products from flours of all kinds and description.

As per the notice issued to PSX, the total paid-up capital of the new Company will be Rs. 400.00 million divided into 40 million shares of Rs.10 each. 51% shareholding i.e. Rs. 200.400 million will be contributed by the Company and the remaining will be contributed by the Directors of the Company.

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 09, 2021 (MLN): The Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group increased by 0.6% during the week ended Apr 08, 2021 while the SPI increased by 18.43% compared to the corresponding period from last year.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Combined Index was at 148 compared to 147.12 on Apr 01, 2021 while the index was recorded at 124.97 a year ago, on Apr 09, 2020

Out of the 51 monitored items, the average price of 18 items increased, 13 items decreased whereas 20 items registered no change during the week.

The weekly SPI percentage change by income groups showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 0.51% and 0.69%.

The Lowest Income Group witnessed a weekly increase of 0.51% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 0.62%.

On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI increased across all quantiles ranging between 17.15% and 21.97%.

Yearly SPI for the Lowest Income Group increased by 21.97% while the highest income group recorded an increase of 17.15%.

The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs.1748 per 50 kg bag which is 0.17% lower than last week’s price and 3.99% higher when compared to last year.

Meanwhile, the average Cement price was recorded at Rs.614 per 50 kg bag, which is 0.33% higher than the previous week and 12.45% higher than prices last year.

Copyright Mettis Link News

April 9, 2021: The reforms introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for ease of doing business and digitalization are resulting in the continued growth of entrepreneurship in the country.

In the first three-quarters of FY 2020-21, SECP has incorporated 19,251 companies, representing an annual growth of 39%, compared to the same period last year. The SECP registered 14,493 companies in FY 2018-2019 and 16,945 companies in FY 2019-2020. The total number of registered companies with SECP has now reached 139,620. Out of the total registered companies, 118,280 companies are active, which accounts for 85% of total companies which are filling their annual returns.

In March 2021, despite the challenges of Covid-19, the SECP has witnessed 72% growth in registration of new companies by registering 2,513 new companies, compared to the same month last year. This is the highest number of companies ever registered in a single month. Around 99% of companies were registered online and 25 % of applicants completed the incorporated process the same day. This month, 260 foreign users were also registered from overseas.

Around 65% of companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 31 % were registered as single-member companies and the remaining 5% were public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships. The construction & real estate sector took the lead with the incorporation of 414, trading with 393, IT with 311, services with 247, and food and beverages with 110.

Foreign investment has been reported in 43 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Korea South, Mauritius, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, UK and the US.

The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 850 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 751 and 385 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 176, 170, 104, 43, 22 and 12 companies respectively.

Press Release

April 9, 2021: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is studying an option to launch its own digital currency in Pakistan, said SBP governor Dr. Reza Baqir in an interview with CNN.

Responding to a question about his views on the Central Bank’s digital coin (CBDC) in Pakistan, Governor SBP said,” we are studying that very carefully, some countries like China are showing Pakistan the way with its CBDC”.

Speaking to CNN the governor said that the launch of a digital coin in Pakistan will have a twofold benefit to us. Not only does it boost our efforts for financial inclusion, but the central bank-issued digital currency will allow progress in our fight towards anti-money and countering terrorism financing.

“We hope to be able to make some announcement on that in the coming months. For now, we have allowed a framework for digital banks to begin operating in Pakistan,” said Baqir.

Meanwhile, he highlighted the role of the SBP in the wake of COVID-19 in Pakistan. He also talked about his vision to bring digitisation to the country’s financial sector.

On the entry of global fintech companies like Stripe in the Pakistani market, Governor SBP said that big international payment providers are “very welcome” in Pakistan.

“Pakistan is the home to the fifth-largest concentration of people. It is a market where people are generally tech-savvy, and it is a market that is waiting to burst as far as digitisation is a concern,” said Baqir.

During Covid-19, SBP removed fees on interbank transfers and the impact of it was phenomenal, he said, adding that, for the quarter ended in December mobile banking transactions grew by 150 to 200% compared to the same period a year ago and internet banking transaction numbers jumped by around 100 to 150%. This signifies that Pakistan is very fertile for such digital innovation.

“We are very open, and we embrace any global mobile payment operator that wants to come to Pakistan,” he added.

Copyright Mettis Link News