Stock
Karachi Stocks Down 19.83 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 27: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13273.29, down 19.83 points.
KARACHI, Mar 27: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13273.29, down 19.83 points.
March 26, 2012
5 TOP GAINERS &
LOOSERS
Unilever Foods |
Rs 15.00 |
Nestle Pakistan |
Rs (41.26) |
Attock Petroleum |
Rs 8.26 |
Colgate Pakistan |
Rs (13.92) |
Linde Pakistan |
Rs 3.08 |
Fazal Textiles |
Rs (11.50) |
Shahtaj Sugar |
Rs 2.90 |
Javedan Cement |
Rs (4.29) |
Service Industries |
Rs 2.85 |
Clariant Pakistan |
Rs (3.16) |
Stocks manage modest gains:
The benchmark KSE 100-index managed to put on a modest gain of 13.44 points but ended well below the session`s peak level of 13,306.03 points at 13,286.73 but blue chip sector lacked normal support and traded lower under the lead of fertiliser shares.
The movements in the index may remain slow until a large section of investors opt for the blue chips, notably the oil and fertiliser sectors, many analysts believe.
Much of the activity again remained confined to the low-priced shares, which accounted for about a half of the total volume.
“Higher open interest in the future contracts continued to be the hallmark of the activity for the last couple of weeks,” said a leading analyst Samar Iqbal and added million of shares changed hands in a week on small margin of profits”.
He said much of the selling in futures contracts, which mostly remained confined to fertiliser sector under the lead of Engro Corporation, D.G. Khan Cement and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim did cause sympathetic selling in their ready shares on conflicting reports about the gas supply.
But analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the market was currently passing through a consolidation phase being in overbought condition and may stabilise above the index level of 13,000 by the first week of April.
“The advent of reformed Capital Gain tax by April 1 may not end all the investor worries,” he said, “but easy supply of money may work as far as the selected sectors are concerned”.
Plus signs dominated the list under the lead of Unilever Foods and Attock Petroleum, up by Rs15.00 and Rs8.26, while losers were led by Nestle Pakistan and Colgate Pakistan, off Rs41.26 and Rs13.92 on renewed selling.
Traded volume rose to 278.010m shares from the previous 226m shares as gainers held a strong lead over the losers at 190 to 119, with 55 shares holding on to the last levels.
The active list was led by Azgard Nine, higher Re1 at Rs8.87 on 31m shares followed by TRG Pakistan, firm by 42 paisa at Rs4.41 on 25m shares, Engro Polymer, steady by 32 paisa at Rs11.30 on 19m shares, WorldCall Telecom, up higher by 45 paisa at Rs3.08 on 18m shares, KESC, firm by 69 paisa at Rs4.18 on 15m shares, Arif Habib Corporation, up Rs1.47 at Rs31.29 on 11m shares and JS & Co, higher Re1 at Rs20.58 on 10m shares.
They were followed by Lotte Pakistan, higher by 50 paisa at Rs8.50 on 10m shares, JS Bank, steady by one paisa at Rs6.82 on 9m shares and Soneri Bank, up 52 paisa at Rs7.57 also on 9m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACTS: The active list was led by D.G. Khan Cement, as its March contract fell by 18 paisa at Rs32.17 on 2.394m shares, while its April contract was quoted higher by 13 paisa at Rs32.48 followed by Arif Habib Corporation, higher by Rs1.44 at Rs31.39 on 2.290m shares.
Both the settlements of Engro Corporation fell by Re1 for the March contract, while April delivery was quoted nominally lower by one paisa at Rs104.10 on 1.272m and 1.011m shares respectively.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Active trading was witnessed on this counter under the lead of Genertech Power, steady by 12 paisa at Rs1.05 on a large volume of 0.335m shares followed by Dost Steels, unchanged at Rs2.79 on 0.183m shares and Quice Foods, off 21 paisa at Rs5.01 on 0.133m shares.
Other actives were led by Kohinoor Industries, lower by three paisa at Rs1.70 on 50,339 shares, Kohinoor Power, up 23 paisa at Rs2.80 on 25,262 shares and Saritow Spinning, higher nine paisa at Rs1.60 on 22,523 shares.
DIVIDEND: Highnoon Labs, cash final at the rate of 30 per cent, Security Investment Bank, nil for the year ended Dec 31, 2011.
Foreign strategic investor quits Hubco
KARACHI, March 26: The foreign majority shareholder in Hub Power Company Limited (Hubco) the country`s largest Independent Power Producer (IPP) stepped out, selling all of its strategic holding to the local conglomerates.Hubco announced on Monday that its major shareholder National Power International Holdings B.V, had entered into `share sale-purchase agreement` to divest its entire 17.44 per cent controlling stake in Hubco at a price of Rs31 per share.
The market calculated that the deal would therefore be sealed at price of Rs6.3 billion or $70 billion, converted at the current dollar/rupee parity.
The National Power holds 201.8 million shares, which would be acquired by two major groups: The Dawood Group and the Allied Bank Limited. The former has made acquisition through three separate entities: Dawood Hercules Corporation 35.48 per cent shares; Dawood Hercules Fertiliser (wholly owned subsidiary of Dawood Hercules Corporation) 102.26 million stock and Cyan (formerly Central Insurance Company) 32.3 million shares.
The other major buyer Allied Bank Limited, which has acquired 31 million shares, is an Ibrahim Group company that already holds 44 million or 3.8 per cent of the Hubco stock.
In the autumn of 2011, the other major foreign sponsor in Hubco, Xenel had called quits, divesting its entire shareholding of 140 million shares (12.3 per cent) at price of Rs37 per share. That deal had resulted in outflow of $60 million.
At the time of project inception in 1994 the two sponsors cumulatively owned 34.9 per cent holding or 404 million shares International Power 20.4 per cent and Xenel 14.5 per cent.
The current deal is subject to regulatory approvals, including consent of the government. But people close to the company have exuded mixed reactions.
A person familiar with the developments, who asked not to be named, said that the exit of foreign investment from the country was a matter of concern. He believed that the decision of International Power was prompted by the long lingering unresolved issue of circular debts. He said that power sector reforms were required to retain foreigners` interest in the country`s energy sector.
Another person well-connected with the power company was keeping spirits high. He thought that the majority shareholder had not made a country-specific decision but as a `strategic move in line with its objectives in the region`.
He said that it was good omen for the largest power project to pass on to the hands of strong local groups.
Dawood Group is in numerous businesses including fertilisers, chemicals, power, foods, insurance and gas distribution, while Allied Bank (Ibrahim Group) has also the experience of running fibre and leasing businesses.
It also is thought to have acumen in the commercial banking in the country, as the group`s Allied Bank is among the big-five banks` slot.
Regarding the prognosis for smaller investors in Hubco, analysts said that the company had as high as 80 per cent `free float` of shares in the market.
Fundamentally, Hubco is thought to be an attractive stock that has paid regular cash payouts at 100 per cent since financial year 2009. The company has guaranteed, high quality earnings, owing to the sale of 64.6 per cent (parent project) of its dependable capacity at a pre-fixed tariff that ensures a real US dollar based return.
The Hubco stock has however fallen out of favour with investors this year represented by 3 per cent negative return year-to-date quite in contrast with the gain of 17 per cent in KSE-100 index.
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