STOCK MARKET UPDATE: 12.04.2013

STOCKS

Karachi Stocks Up 41.20 Points:
KARACHI, Apr 11: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 18764.55, up 41.20 points.

(Today 12^th April- Market is 46.51 Down@ 11.21 am)

April 11, 2013

 5 TOP GAINERS  &  LOOSERS:

Bata Pak	Rs 83.00	Rafhan Maize	Rs (215.00)
Wyeth Pak	Rs 56.88	Uniliver Food	Rs (58.00)
Sanofi Aventis	Rs 20.73	Philip Morris	Rs (15.04)
Fazal Textile	Rs 11.45	Sunrays Textile	Rs (10.34)
Murree Brewery	Rs 9.32	Sitara Chemical	Rs (9.98)

Karachi Stocks gain another 41 points

KARACHI, April 11: For the thirteenth consecutive bullish session in a row, the KSE-100 index posted a gain of 41.20 points closing at 18,764.55. The activity was however thought to be dull with volumes shrinking on Thursday.
The turnover volume dipped to 125.168 million shares from Wednesday’s 151.456m. Trading value fell to Rs4.701 billion from Rs5.436bn a day earlier. Market capitalisation however showed a slight increase of Rs3.022bn to Rs4.615 trillion on Thursday.
While local investors remained on the sidelines in the face of upcoming Monetary Policy due on Friday and the financial results for the quarter ended March, foreign investors were seen to be the major buyers for the third day in a row.
The foreign interest may have received a boost as Asian stocks were on the rise. Foreign inflow on Thursday stood at a tall order of $3.54 million, which raised the total foreign investment in three days to over $7 million.
Samar Iqbal, Senior Manager Equity Sales at Topline Securities, said the volume at the bourse remained low. “Right now, the market is in the need of any news from political and corporate front. Interest was seen in Al-Abbas Cement with 12 million shares exchanged hands. Institutional buying was also seen in banking stocks like MCB Bank, UBL and NBP,” he noted.
Al-Abbas Cement Industries Ltd rose 4.48 per cent to Rs6.30 while National Bank of Pakistan was up 2.52pc to Rs38.61.
Meanwhile, a financial analyst also agreed that the stock market is in need of a ‘major stimulus’. “The past three days saw high foreign investments. However, the local investors are sleeping, saving their energies till the new monetary policy is announced.
The market will see some activity once the corporate results start pouring in from Friday.”
Of the 345 stocks that were traded, 152 were positive, 167 in negative while 26 showed no change. Top five gainers on Thursday included Bata Pak which increased by Rs83.00 to close at Rs1,773.00, Wyeth Pak up Rs56.88 at Rs1,194.58 followed by Sanofi Aventis rose Rs20.73, Fazal Textile gained Rs11.45 and Murree Brewery up by Rs9.32.
With a massive loss of Rs215 Rafhan Maize led the losers chart and closed at Rs4,085.00, followed by Unilever Food which shed Rs58 to Rs5,000. Philip Morris went down by Rs15.04, Sunrays Textile dipped Rs10.34 and Sitara Chemicals lost Rs9.98.
Al Abbas Cement topped the turnover list, gaining a modest 27 paisa to close at 13m shares, followed by Engro Corp and Engro Polymer that gained Rs1.74 and 9 paisa to close at 9m shares and 8m shares respectively.
Maple Leaf Cement had a turnover of 7m shares after losing 38 paisa followed by Jahangir Siddiqi and Co that lost 12 paisa to close at 6m shares. PIAC gained 36 paisa while Pak Elektron gained 99 paisa to reach 6m and 5m shares respectively. Adding a mere 2 paisa, Wateen Telecom closed at Rs4.40 to reach 3m shares. Losing 5 paisa and 52 paisa respectively, Kohinoor Energy and Engro Foods closed at Rs25.00 and Rs145.69, with 3m shares each.

SECP to resist broker pressure

KARACHI, April 11: The chief regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), struck back against what it termed “pressure of powerful brokers”.
At a hurriedly called press briefing on Thursday afternoon, the spokesman for SECP Imran Ghaznavi affirmed: “The regulator will not bow to the pressure of powerful brokers.”
The SECP spokesman rebuked the “attempts in media to malign the apex regulator by some of the brokers” as the SECP had initiated various actions against large brokerage houses on account of security market frauds and market manipulation, as well as finalisation of long-standing proposed prosecutions against them and some large business groups.
No names were named, but the spokesman hinted that a lot of pressure was being mounted by a major media group (not Dawn) in an effort to stop the SECP from giving effect to a decision to initiate prosecution against a large group in the regulated
sector of the SECP, which, the spokesman alleged, was involved in manipulation of (transactions) worth millions, ever since this decision had become public knowledge.
“A full blown media campaign has been initiated against the senior management of the SECP in an effort to malign and discredit them and to delay filing of prosecution,” the spokesman said.
The SECP believed that the ‘senior management of the regulator’ was being put under pressure to halt any action against wrongdoing. The situation was stated to have intensified since the announcement on Dec 14, 2012 when the chairman SECP had initiated 100 per cent onsite inspection of all brokerage houses.
Litigation attempting to derail the efforts of the SECP had also increased, and every effort was being made to halt enquiries and investigations and impending prosecutions, the spokesman said.
The SECP was thought to be enraged by a news item published in a newspapers (not Dawn) alleging that the SECP chairman had undisclosed business with regulatees. A detailed clarification of the news item was provided by the SECP spokesman.

Company News:

PSO, KP sign MoU for $800m refinery: KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (GoKP) for the establishment of an oil refinery in the province. The MoU was signed in Peshawar on Thursday.
According to the MoU, PSO would set up a technologically advanced refinery with a capacity of 40,000 barrels per day (BPD) on about 400 acres of land in district Kohat-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The project was envisaged to be set-up through a public-private partnership and would utilise crude oil from nearby indigenous supply sources. The project was expected to be fully commissioned by 2016-17, a statement by PSO said.
The MoU was signed by Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Naeem Malik, PSO Managing Director Naeem Yahya Mir and GoKP Secretary Energy and Power Zaffar Iqbal. Also present were KP Chief Minister Tariq Pervaiz Khan, Minister for Energy and Power Muhammad Yunis Marwat and a team of PSO officials.
The PSO statement said that the refinery would help improve the overall availability of POL products across the country as well as result in sizeable foreign exchange savings. It would also increase PSO’s operational base through diversification in the midstream segment and lower distribution cost in the related supply envelopes.
The refinery was also looked upon to help create job opportunities for the local populace. “It is also expected that substantial foreign direct investment will also take place as a result of this project,” the statement said.
In reply to queries PSO MD Naeem Yahya Mir told Dawn on phone that the projected cost of the refinery was $700-$800m. It would be financed by mix of debt and equity in the ratio of 80:20.  Naeem Mir was confident that the debt portion would be raised as several large banks had expressed interest in the refinery. He believed that the banking sector was flush with liquidity and required a visibly viable project for investment.
In regard to the 20 per cent equity portion of financing, the MD PSO said that GoKP would contribute 20pc share, while the balance would be taken up by PSO. The company would retain the operational and management control of the refinery, he said.
Naeem Mir brushed aside the issue of circular debt and said that PSO was financially strong to subscribe to its portion of equity. He pointed out that the company, which has average 60 per cent market share, generates net cash of Rs8 billion daily. He did not think that security issues could surface in setting up the project in the KP.
In regard to the bidding for acquisition of Chevron (formerly Caltex Oil Pakistan Limited) Marketing Affiliates in Pakistan, which includes 12 per cent stake in Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL), Naeem Mir stressed that PSO had the “first right of refusal” to buy out the PRL holdings in Chevron.
He said PSO held 18 per cent of PRL while Shell Pakistan had 30 per cent shares. The MD PSO affirmed that PSO was interested in the Chevron’s stake as it still had an eye on an eventual buy-out of PRL.
ARL refining capacity: ISLAMABAD: The Attock Refinery has awarded a contract to a leading South Korean enterprise to expand the refining capacity and enhance production of premium motor gasoline.
Under the agreement, South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering will install two units at the existing refinery and expand captive power plant at a cost of $251m.
The installation of isomerization unit would enhance production of premium motor gasoline while the pre-flash unit would lead to enhance the refining capacity of ARL.
ARL CEO Adil Khattak and Hyundai Engineering Project Director Won Ock Kim signed the agreement.—Our Reporter

Hubco seeks release of Rs19bn dues: KARACHI: The Hub Power Company Limited has sought immediate release of payment out of its overdue amount of Rs19bn of Narowal Power Plant.
The 225MW Power Plant located in the Punjab is shut down due to non-availability of oil.
A press release issued by the company stated that Hubco was unable to run the power plant due to its inability to procure oil.
“We request the government to clear the dues so that we could help bridging the gap between power demand and supply by running our plant on immediate basis. The plant can generate 225MW of electricity for the national grid,” it was stated in the release.
Hubco CEO Zafar Iqbal Sobani hoped that the caretaker minister would extend support to power producers to run it at its full capacity.
Foreigners eyeing OGDCL: ISLAMABAD, April 11: International investment companies have indicated their interest in OGDCL shares, the oil and gas development company announced here on Thursday.
There was a reasonable demand and appetite for OGDCL shares in the international market. Investors have raised the issue of non-availability of OGDCL shares in the market and expect that the Pakistani government will decide to make divestment a prompt, positive and encouraging response is expected from the internal market.
According to the investors, big lots of OGDCL shares were not available in the market as major share holders preferred to retain their share in the company.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch arranged the Asean Stars Conference in Singapore, attended by various asset management companies and fund managers. OGDCL management attended the conference and highlighted financial state of OGDCL which attracted the fund managers to invest in OGDCL in Pakistan.
They raised quires about the overall economic aspects to understand some misconception about certain relevant areas which investors typically consider while making investment decisions.
The perception was developed on account of repenting of domestic law and order situation; the institutional investors have a better insight about financial and securities market and were likely to take a mature position with long term investment prospective.
The other issues raised during the conference were energy shortfalls with ramifications, effect of circular debt on the ability of OGDCL to meet its funding requirements, gas supply arrangements with the fertilizer sector and resulting benefits for OGDCL.
Also raised were issues relating to overall state of revenues, profitability , cost of doing business, earning per share and share value of the company, dividend policy of the company, availability of OGDCL shares in the market and possibility of further divestment by the government, incentives for the exploration and production (E&P) sector under the existing regulatory and policy regimes governing E&P sector, challengers in general and for E&P sector in specific and security situation in the country.

MOHAMMED SALEEM MANSOORI