Tag: inter alias

October 20, 2020: Global stocks were mixed Tuesday ahead of a looming deadline for a pre-election US stimulus package, dealers said.

In Europe, London finished the day slightly higher than it began, while stock indices in Paris and Frankfurt wallowed in negative territory.

New York markets were doing well in midday trading after US housing starts rebounded slightly in September.

Oil prices slipped lower a day after OPEC and other major crude producers refrained from altering output policy despite weak virus-hit demand and stubborn oversupply.

Meanwhile, US Democrats and Republicans wrangled over a new Covid-19 stimulus package.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a Tuesday deadline, fuelling fears that nothing will be approved before the November 3 presidential election.

"The likelihood of a deal taking place appears no more likely now than it was a week ago, with the window for it happening... closing fast, as tonight's Pelosi-imposed Tuesday deadline for getting a deal agreed comes into view," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

But Fawad Razaqzada at ThinkMarkets.com felt that the fact that markets were not doing too badly "suggests that investors are convinced that it is just a question of when rather than if the US stimulus package will be signed."

Pelosi's spokesman said she held talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday and would do so again Tuesday, adding that they continued to narrow their differences.

But even if they reach an agreement -- with US President Donald Trump saying he is happy to top Pelosi's $2.2 trillion proposal -- Senate Republicans would likely still not be prepared to back a massive spending bill.

- Brexit saga drags on -

Investors are also keeping tabs on post-Brexit trade negotiations, with Britain welcoming signs that the European Union was ready to intensify them but saying the bloc's commitments did not yet go far enough to restart face-to-face talks.

Britain's chief negotiator David Frost said he had held a "constructive discussion" with EU counterpart Michel Barnier, but added on Twitter that the bloc "still needs to make a fundamental change in approach to the talks and make clear it has done so".

Barnier urged Britain to "make the most out of the little time left."

- Key figures around 1545 GMT -

• London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 5,889.22 points (close)
• Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.9 percent at 12,736.95 (close)
• Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,929.28 (close)
• EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,233.66
• New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.5 percent at 28,340.11
• Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 23,567.04 (close)
• Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 24,569.54 (close)
• Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,328.10 (close)
• Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1823 from $1.1769 at 2100 GMT
• Dollar/yen: UP at 105.56 yen from 105.43 yen
• Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2956 from $1.2948
• Euro/pound: UP at 91.25 pence from 90.90 pence
• West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $40.66 per barrel
• Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $42.40

AFP/APP

October 20, 2020 (MLN): The general public subscription of Agha Steel Industries Limited’s 30 million shares i.e. 25% of the total offer size oversubscribed by 1.28x or by 8,322,500 ordinary shares amounting to PKR 266,320,000.

The process of general public subscription was held on October 14 and 15, 2020, both days inclusive at the price of Rs 32 per share.

The issue offered to retail investors resulted in total applications for 38,322,500 ordinary shares from general public against the issue size of 30,000,000 ordinary shares.

As per the subscription details, out of the total 5,210 applications received, 4,082 applicants bid for up to 2000 ordinary shares while remaining 1,128 applicants were applied for above 2000 ordinary shares.

Subject to scrutiny, applications for up to 2,000 ordinary shares will be allotted all the ordinary shares that they have applied for and applications above 2,000 ordinary shares will be allotted ordinary shares on pro rata basis, which will be communicated at a later date, revealed Arif Habib Limited’s notice to PSX, who was the consultant to the Issue for this IPO.

 Copyright Mettis Link News

October 20, 2020 (MLN): The Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited has carried out the Re-Composition of NITPG Index as of September 30, 2020, as per the Index Rules.

As a result of the index Re-composition exercise, two new companies (Engro Fertilizers Ltd & Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd) will be included to the index.

The list of NITPG Index companies are as under:

• Bank Al-Habib Ltd
• Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd
• Engro Corporation Limited
• Engro Fertilizers Limited
• Fauji Fertilizer Co. Ltd
• Habib Bank Limited
• The Hub Power Company Limited
• Lucky Cement Limited
• MCB Bank Limited
• Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd
• Pakistan Oilfields Limited
• Pakistan Petroleum Limited
• Pakistan State Oil Co Ltd
• United Bank Ltd

The above changes in the NITPG Index will be implemented w.e.f. Wednesday, October 21, 2020.

Copyright Mettis Link News

October 20, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan equities extended gains on Tuesday as KSE-100 Index rose by 616 points or a 1.53 percent gain to finish the trading day at 40,956 levels, marking its third straight increase.

The bullish spell was backed by assuaging political heat and the investors’ positive sentiments on FATF review, as per the closing note by Ismail Iqbal Securities.

Further, today’s market performance was also affected by the announcement of financial results made by several companies throughout the session which include:

• International Steel Limited (ISL) observed a substantial growth of 60.7% to stand at Rs 559 million (EPS: Rs 1.29) during 1QFY21 against net profits of Rs 347 million (EPS: Rs 0.80) of the same period last year.
• Attock Petroleum Limited witnessed a 21% YoY increase in net profits for 1QFY21 ended on September 30^th, 2020, to Rs 1.485 billion against the net profits of Rs 1.225 billion reported in the same period last year.
• Lotte Chemical Pakistan (LOTCHEM) reported a massive decline of 78% YoY in profitability to Rs 1.037 billion (EPS: Rs 0.69) for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, against net profits of Rs 4.732 billion (EPS: Rs 3.13) of the corresponding period last year.
• Fauji Foods Limited incurred losses of Rs. 2.4 billion (LPS: 3.01) during the nine months ended September 20, 2020, i.e. around 27% lower than the losses witnessed in the same period of last year.
• National Refinery Limited (NRL) bore losses of Rs. 1.31 billion (LPS: 16.4) during the quarter ended September 30, 2020, i.e. nearly 93% higher as compared to the losses made in the same period of last year.  
• Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) suffered a loss after tax of Rs 555.3 million from refinery operations during 1QFY21, compared to the net profits of Rs 16.4 million earned in the same quarter of last year.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed the highest all- share volume since Sept 23, 2020, as it increased by 173.11 Million to 492.67 Million Shares.

The Index remained positive throughout the session touching an intraday high of 41,056.95

Of the 95 traded companies in the KSE100 Index, 70 closed up 21 closed down, while 4 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 323.06 million shares.

Sectors propping up the index were Cement with 111 points, Power Generation & Distribution with 107 points, Commercial Banks with 91 points, Oil & Gas Exploration Companies with 72 points and Oil & Gas Marketing Companies with 50 points.

The most points added to the index was by HUBC which contributed 84 points followed by LUCK with 48 points, MEBL with 42 points, PPL with 37 points and HBL with 30 points.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by Close - End Mutual Fund with 4 points, Miscellaneous with 2 points, Food & Personal Care Products with 2 points, Automobile Parts & Accessories with 2 points and Textile Spinning with 1 points.

The most points taken off the index was by HMB which stripped the index of 7 points followed by UBL with 5 points, ABOT with 4 points, HGFA with 4 points and FML with 3 points.

Market Cap increased by Rs.82.97 Billion.

Total companies traded were 416 compared to 392 from the previous session. Of the scrips traded 305 closed up, 96 closed down while 15 remained unchanged.

Total trades increased by 58,625 to 155,626.

Value Traded increased by 8.44 Billion to Rs.16.41 Billion

Copyright Mettis Link News

October 20, 2020 (MLN): Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL)’s net profitability for the first quarter ended on September 2020, declined merely by 4.7% YoY to Rs 3.7 billion from Rs 3.9 billion reported in the same quarter last year.

This resulted in company’s earnings per share of Rs 13.05, depicting a decline of 4.6% YoY from Rs 13.68 reported in first quarter of FY20.

The decline in profitability during the quarter was attributed to 31%YoY drop in average oil prices despite 5%YoY PKR depreciation, 3% and 4%YoY drop in oil and gas production respectively and higher operating costs, as per the report by IGI Securities.

Net Sales were down by 9%YoY% mainly on the back of 31%YoY drop in average oil prices and lower oil and gas production.

During the quarter, Company’s oil production was down by 2.1%YoY primarily because of lower production from TAL (down 0.5% YoY) and Jhandial (down 27.3% YoY) block. However, Adhi production is up by 8% YoY during the quarter. Similarly, LPG production was also down by 3.5% YoY primarily because of 11% YoY drop in Adhi field production, while its gas production posted a mere growth of 0.2% YoY, said the report by Foundation Securities.

On the expense side, POL’s exploration expense dipped by 80%YoY to Rs 75.63 million during 1QFY21 compared to Rs 375.8 million in the corresponding period last year possibly owing to lower prospecting expense and no dry well expense incurred.

Moreover, the Other income of the company fell by 35%YoY to Rs 295.6 million during 1QFY21 owing to lower earnings on cash and lack of exchange gains. The latter is corroborated by the 38% YoY decline in Finance cost, stated Intermarket Securities. It further highlighted that due to rise in production (especially in Tal block) without any major change in reserves, POL’s Amortization cost rose 10% YoY.

Lastly, the company witnessed deterioration of 3ppts in effective tax rate from 31% in 1QFY20 to 28%.

Copyright Mettis Link News