Stocks rebound on institutional buying binge
Business
April 27, 2021
Stocks on Monday surged from last week’s virus-led lows as institutions lifted heavyweights, with sentimental support coming from a downtick in new infections over the weekend, dealers said.
Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) KSE-100 Shares Index gained 2.18 percent or 976.01 points to close at 45,682.77 points.
Volumes ballooned to 409.08 million shares from 240.48 million in the last trading session.
An analyst at Pearl Securities said despite the prevailing uncertainty regarding Covid cases and the related lock-down, stocks started the rollover week on a positive note primarily supported by the index heavyweights.
“Market rumors suggest heavy buying from a big pension fund and a likely rate cut to counter the negative impact on coronavirus,” the analyst added.
SBP Slams Penalties of Rs. 98 Million on 3 Major Banks
State Bank of Pakistan has slapped heavy penalties of nearly Rs. 98 million on three country’s most profitable big banks namely Habib Bank Limited, MCB Bank, and United Bank Limited on the account of violation of its rules and regulations.
According to the enforcement order issued by the central bank, the three banks were slapped with separate penalties of Rs. 97.5 million in the first quarter of January to March 2021.
This is the sad state of affairs as these top commercial banks could not ensure the compliance of the banking laws within their operations while repeating the violation time and again.
Power project in Punjab achieves financial close
Plant has generation capacity of 1,263MW, costs $708 million
Potential loss of customers would severely dent the company’s financial sustainability, rendering it incapable of investing in Karachi’s power needs, the CEO said. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The 1,263-megawatt Punjab Thermal Power Limited (PTPL) power project costing $708 million has achieved financial close.
The power plant located near Trimmu Barrage, Jhang district is based on re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) and so far it is the largest RLNG-based power generation project established under the Power Generation Policy 2015.
The financial close ceremony was held on Friday and it was attended by Federal Energy Minister Hammad Azhar and Punjab Energy Minister Akhtar Malik.
KSE-100: Covid lockdown fear extends losses; index plunges 376 points
April 23, 2021
Stocks extended their losses for the second day at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, as rising fear over fresh rounds of Covid lockdown restrained the index.
On Thursday , the benchmark KSE-100 opened on a positive note and touched intra-day high at 45,496.82 level after gaining 190.28 points. However, paring early gains the index reversed its trajectory and clocked at 45,929.61 index level by the closing bell after posting a 376.93 points loss.
During the session the market was gripped with fears of rising Covid cases, after the Federal Minister for Planning and Development and the Chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar on issued a warning and said that if the coronavirus situation continues to worsen in the country, the government will be compelled to impose more restrictions, which dampened investors’ confidence.
Business
April 23, 2021
KARACHI: Engro Corporation profit jumped 148 percent to Rs14.77 billion translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs14.47 for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, as against profit of Rs5.94 billion and EPS of Rs5.76 in the same period last year.
The company also declared interim cash dividend of Rs12/share along with corporate results.
Engro’s consolidated revenue grew by 58 percent from Rs44.977 billion during Q1 2020 to Rs70.866 billion in Q1 2021.
Domestic market witnessed strong agricultural sector performance in Q1 as farm economics continued to improve, driven by better farm output prices and enhanced support pricing. The company produced 523KT of Urea vs 572KT for the comparative period due to a turnaround in one of the plants. The company delivered quarterly Urea sales of 582KT vs 169KT and Phosphate sales of 74KT vs 36KT during the same period last year.