Tag: INVESTMENT
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CPEC Western alignment to be completed in three years
January 25, 2022: Work on various road projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Western Route is in full swing and the projects are expected to be completed within three years, according to official sources.
As per details, on the CPEC Western Route, the completed projects on the Western alignment of CPEC include the 297 km Hakla-D I Khan Motorway, the 235 km Quetta-Sohrab road, the 449 km Surab-Hoshab road, and the 193 km Hoshab-Gwadar road.
Whereas, the under-construction projects on the CPEC Western Route include the 305 km Zhob-Quetta road, the 110 km Basima-Khuzdar road, the Nokundi-Mashkel road and the 146 km Hoshab-Awaran road.
The projects on the Western Route that are in the pipeline include the 360 km Peshawar-D I Khan motorway, the 460 km Karachi-Quetta-Chaman road, the 200 km Mashkhel-Panjgur road, the 163 km Awaran-Khuzdar road, the 228 km Panjgur-Awaran road, and the 136 km Awaran-Jhal Jao-Bela road.
Work on the 210-kilometer D.I. Khan (Yarik)-Zhob Road (N-50) and Zhob-Quetta (N-50) roads have already been completed while work on the 431 km Khuzdar-Quetta-Chaman Section of N-25 is also in progress. The Surab-Hoshab at N-85 and Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab (M-8) are already operational.
Similarly, the sources said that work on the 106 km Basima-Khuzdar road, Quetta to Khuzdar road and Khuzdar to Awaran and Hoshab road has also been started and would complete soon. The sources added that the work on the western alignment routes of CPEC would be completed within three years.
All routes of the western alignment go through remote areas where the poverty rate is higher, jobs are less and industrial development and infrastructure is very low, thus completion of these projects will usher in the prosperity of the areas.
The Authority sources said the country was entering into the second phase of CPEC as it was moving beyond infrastructure to focus on agriculture, particularly economic zones to boost industrialization. More sectors such as science, technology, information technology and agriculture sectors have also been included in the mega project of CPEC.
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DAP offtake drops by 43% YoY in December
January 25, 2022 (MLN): The sales of diammonium phosphate (DAP) were recorded at 117,000 tonnes in December 2021, down by 43.4% against 206,000 recorded in the same period last year on an account of its higher prices, the monthly data published by National Fertilizer Development Company (NFDC) said.
The report stated that the price of a 50 kg bag of DAP in the domestic market during the said month increased by 4.2% to Rs8,351 when compared to Rs8,015 reported in November 2021.
In the international market, DAP prices during December 2021 were quoted at $626-670/t fob bulk in Australia and $873-1000/t fob in China market.
Province-wise, DAP offtake plunged by 46%, 20%, 61%, and 82% in Punjab, Sindh, KP, and Balochistan, to 443,000, 121,000, 22,000 and 13,000, respectively.
Going by the report, DAP availability, in the current season of Rabi 2021-22, would be around 1,120,000 tonnes, which includes 353,000 tonnes of opening inventory, 380,000 tonnes of imported supplies and domestic production of 387,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the expected DAP offtake during the current Rabi season is about 927,000 tonnes, leaving a balance of 200,000 tonnes for the next season.
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FFL: LAT shrinks by 59% in 2021
January 25, 2022 (MLN): Fauji Foods Limited (FFL) managed to end the year 2021 by effectively reducing the overall losses as the company’s Loss after Taxation (LAT) has shrunk by almost 59 percent to clock in at Rs1.25 billion (LPS: Rs1.60), compared to the losses incurred in CY20 Rs3bn (LPS: Rs3.92), as per the financial statement revealed by the company on Tuesday.
This decline in net losses is mainly owing to the significant drop in finance costs. The focus of the management is to grow the company’s topline and to achieve that, FFL is actively working on expanding its distribution network.
As per management, the company has strengthened its retail network in northern regions and it is also penetrating the southern market by enhancing its footprint in Karachi.
Resultantly, the company managed to uplift its topline by 16.5% to Rs8.59bn in 2021 on the back of an improved distribution network, efficient procurement and process advancement.
Resultantly, the company saw a major turnaround in gross profit worth Rs921 million during the review period as compared to the gross loss of Rs62mn in 2020.
According to Muhammad Shahroz, Equity Research Analyst at Insight Securities, given the improved outlook of sales volume, turn around in gross profit, restructuring of debt, the borrowing price differential between packaged and loose milk and recent change in taxation regime, it is expected that company’s bottom-line to turn positive in CY23.
With regards to the major expenses, the company observed a 19.3% expansion in terms of marketing and distribution expenses to clocked in at Rs1bn in 2021. On the other hand, administrative expenses relatively remained flat at Rs359mn during the period under review.
Meanwhile, the finance cost of the company has tumbled by 34% on the back of the interest rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan in order to provide a smooth business environment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the income front, the head of other income dropped by 22.8% during the period to lock in at Rs76.23mn, while the company observed a major decline in its other expenses by 99% during the period under review.
Profit and Loss Account for the year ended December 31, 2021 (Rs) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Dec-21 | Dec-20 | % Change | |
Sales-net | 8,586,396,344 | 7,373,162,067 | 16.5% |
Cost of Sales | (7,665,360,235) | (7,310,900,013) | 4.8% |
Gross Loss | 921,036,109 | 62,262,054 | 1379.3% |
Marketing and distribution expenses | (1,019,059,263) | (854,143,010) | 19.3% |
Administrative expenses | (359,124,683) | (355,432,212) | 1.0% |
Loss from operations | (457,147,837) | (1,147,313,168) | -60.2% |
Other income | 76,233,076 | 98,704,064 | -22.8% |
Other expenses | (523,991) | (242,918,870) | -99.8% |
Finance cost | (1,155,050,524) | (1,752,267,407) | -34.1% |
Loss before taxation | (1,536,489,276) | (3,043,795,381) | -49.5% |
Taxation (current) | (122,041,623) | (14,316,124) | |
Deferred | 405,588,641 | - | |
Loss for the period | (1,252,942,258) | (3,058,111,505) | -59.0% |
Loss per share - basic and diluted (in Rupees) | (1.60) | (3.92) | -59.2% |
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Urea sales plunge by 32% YoY in December
January 25, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan’s urea sales dropped by 32% to 599,000 tonnes in December 2021 when compared to 881,000 tonnes in the corresponding month of last year due to its availability issues, the National Fertilizer Development Company (NFDC) showed in its monthly report.
The report noted that the price of 50 kg bag of urea (sona) and urea (other) in the domestic market during the said month decreased by 4.2% and 5.6% to Rs1,971 and Rs1,864, respectively over November 2021.
In the international market, fob bulk China urea prices fluctuated around $873-1,000/t. while bulk Arabian Gulf urea price was quoted at $864-973/t.
Province-wise, urea offtake decreased by 24%, 49%, 35% and 44% in Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan, respectively.
Outlook for Rabi 2021-22
The Rabi 2021-22 season started on a positive note with an opening inventory of 116,000 tonnes of urea. Domestic production of urea during Rabi 2021-22 is estimated at around 3,119,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, it is expected that the country will import 100,000 tonnes of urea from China during February 2022.
Urea offtake during current Rabi 2021-22 will be about 3,195,000 tonnes, against the total availability of 3,335,000 tonnes, leaving a closing balance of 152,000 tonnes for next season.
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Fertilizer offtake declines by 31.8% YoY in December
January 25, 2022 (MLN): The country’s overall nutrients offtake fell by 31.8% to 408,000 tonnes during December 2021 from 598,000 tonnes in the same period last year, the latest monthly data of fertilizer offtake issued by the National Fertilizer Development Company (NDFC) showed.
Among the nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate offtake decreased by 31% and 37.3% to stand at 332,000 and 70,000 tonnes, respectively during December 2021. While potash offtake went up by 33.6% when compared to December 2020.
The report underlined that about 773,000 tonnes of different fertilizer products were manufactured in Pakistan during the month of December 2021. The major share was of urea (72%) with 557,000 tonnes.
Other products were DAP 76,000, Nitrophos 59,000, CAN 74,000, SOP 1,900 and SSP 4,800 tonnes. Total imported supplies were 2,200 tonnes which included SOP 1,300, MOP 500 and MAP 400 tonnes during December 2021, it added.
During the first three months of the current Rabi 2021-22 (Oct-Dec), total nutrients offtake stood at 1,444,000 tonnes, depicting a decline of 5% as compared with the same time frame of last year. Out of this, nitrogen and phosphate offtake fell by 5% and 6.7%, respectively while potash offtake witnessed an upsurge of 35.2% over the corresponding period of last year.
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