KARACHI: The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has taken decisive action by suspending the sales tax registration of M/s. Adam Shipping (Private) Limited, a shipping company, due to default in payment and failure to file monthly returns.
(more…)Month: February 2020
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Petroleum prices reduced up to Rs7 per liter
ISLAMABAD: The government has reduced prices of petroleum products up to Rs7 per liters for the month of March 2020, a notification said on Saturday.
The notification issued by Finance Division stated that the government decided to decrease the prices of petroleum products to provide relief to the consumers.
The government is committed to extend relief to the public whenever fiscal space becomes available.
As per the notification following prices will be effective from March 01, 2010:
The price of petrol has been reduced by Rs5 per liter to Rs111.60 from Rs116.60.
The price of high speed diesel has been reduced by Rs5 per liter to Rs122.26 from Rs127.26,
The price of kerosene oil has been reduced by Rs7 per liter to Rs92.45 from Rs99.45.
The price of light diesel oil has been reduced by Rs7 per liter to Rs77.51 from Rs84.51.
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Port Qasim advised to ensure environmental compliance in unloading soybean cargo
KARACHI: Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has asked Port Qasim Authority (PQA) to ensure environmental compliance while unloading soybean cargo, officials said on Saturday.
In a letter sent to PQA, the SEPA said that an incident was occurred on February 16, 2020 at Kemari and in the vicinity of Karachi Port Trust regarding deterioration of Air Quality due to dust emission.
“As reported by the office of Commissioner Karachi on February 19, 2020 regarding the said incident that 10 persons died and 300 persons were affected in the area.”
The SEPA further said that International Centre of Chemical and Biological University of Karachi has reported that soybean dust containing allergies were released from the ship was the main cause of said incident. It is now learnt through reliable sources that the same ship is intended to shift to Port Qasim for its further unloading.
In this context, “it must be ensured that the dust emission expected to be emitted from the ship should be controlled for protection of human health and life.”
“All precautionary measures must be ensured, so that adverse impact does not arise to the labors working at port and the population residing in the surroundings.”
The SEPA also advised that PQA must submit plan to carryout Ambient Air Quality monitoring regularly thereby installation of Ambient Air Quality monitoring stations on permanent basis within the jurisdiction, mainly due to handling of coal and other air pollution sources including power plant and industries, as well as construction of projects.
The agency asked the PQA to ensure the environmental compliance due to port operation and other installation/industries, in true spirit for improvement of air quality within the jurisdiction of Port Qasim.
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Dealers demand reviewing policy for used cars import
KARACHI: Car dealers have said that due to restrictions on import of used vehicles the business of car sales has suffered terribly and many showroom owners have shut down their businesses.
Chairman of Automotive Traders & Importers Association Karachi (ATIAK) Muhammad Kamran Khan and President ATIAK Ch. Aamir Ali Khan have requested the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) to support the car dealers.
They said that due to severe curbs imposed on the imports of used cars particularly the amendment in the Import Policy Order 2016 in which clearance of cars through foreign exchange has been made mandatory, the car sale business has suffered terribly and dozens of car dealers in various localities have shut down their businesses.
They also sought help of the KCCI in getting their parking issue resolved as not a single vehicle belonging either to showroom owners or walk-in customers was being allowed to get parked outside any showroom which terribly affects their businesses.
Chairman ATIAK Muhammad Kamran Khan pointed out that the situation has created a lot of problems not only for the car dealers but also for many other allied businesses including the denting and painting workshops and mechanics etc., rendering thousands of people jobless.
Chairman ATIAK stated that the importers of used cars pay billions of rupees each other in shape of taxes and custom duties but the restrictions on imported cars have brought many businesses on the verge of complete collapse whereas the government was also losing billions of rupees being generated through custom duties and registration of imported vehicles.
“The entire strategy needs to be reviewed and relief has to be provided hence, KCCI, being the premier trade body, must come forward to help out and save car dealers”, he added.
Speaking at a meeting during the visit of ATIAK delegation to KCCI, Chairman and President ATIAK said that relocating showrooms outside Karachi was not a feasible option as not a single customer will come all the way out of city beyond Sohrab Goth to buy cars mainly due to security concerns hence, the relevant authorities will have to come up with some other feasible option in which relief has to be ensured for perturbed showroom owners.
Earlier President KCCI Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, while welcoming the ATIAK delegation, said that under Businessmen Group’s policy of Public Service, the Karachi Chamber has not only been serving the entire business & industrial community without any discrimination but also all other citizens of Karachi who have been facing hardships and climb the Chamber’s stairs to seek assistance.
He assured the ATIAK delegation members of KCCI’s full support and cooperation so that numerous issues being faced by the car importers and dealers could be resolved as per aspiration of the stakeholders. “We are available for any kind of assistance 24/7 to the entire business and industrial community of Karachi without any discrimination of cast, creed, color or even size of the business”, he added.
Referring to concerns by ATIAK delegates over parking issue, Agha Shahab Ahmed assured that DIG Traffic will be invited so that the parking issue being faced by car dealers could be particularly discussed and resolved.
He was of the view that instead of imposing parking restrictions and creating other problems for showroom owners, the authorities should devise some kind of an effective strategy and come up with a permanent solution in consultation with all stakeholders as the car dealers also contribute billions of rupees every year to the national exchequer in shape of taxes and duties hence, they must get an enabling business environment in return.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman KCCI’s Special Committee for Small Traders Majeed Memon advised the ATIAK delegates to maintain close liaison with Karachi Chamber, become members of numerous subcommittees and participate in subcommittees’ meetings in order to actively highlight and bring issues to KCCI’s notice so that the same could timely be taken up with relevant authorities and amicably resolved.
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Weekly Review: Market to remain under pressure on coronavirus threat
KARACHI: Coronavirus fear to haunt the local bourses during next week as it has already dented the market badly in the outgoing week.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that with the extension of global panic over coronavirus and its spill-over on markets, currencies and commodities alike, pressure on the benchmark KSE-100 index to sustain.
Albeit, topsy-turvy trend of the market on last day of the week suggests that recent correction has opened up valuations and select sectors may come under limelight.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 6.6x (2020) compared to Asia Pac regional average of 11.4x and while offering DY of ~7.2 percent versus ~2.9 percent offered by the region.
Given the outbreak of Coronavirus across 40-odd countries with no signs of containment in sight, global equities and commodities (such as Oil) were quick to witness a rout.
Moreover, Moody’s report signaling an adverse impact on local Banks post Pakistan’s inclusion in the FATF’s Grey List, further eroded sentiments.
That said, Pakistan and IMF’s staff-level agreement on the second review under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) provided respite to the market.
The local equity bourse shed 2,266points (5.6 percent WoW) to close at 37,984 points, depicting the biggest weekly decline since 16th Jun 2017 in points.
Sector-wise negative contributions came from i) E&P (575 points) led by weakness in International oil prices, ii) Commercial Banks (531 points), iii) Fertilizer (278 points), iv) Power Generation & Distribution (233 points), and v) Oil and Gas Marketing Companies (191 points). Scrip-wise negative contributions were led by PPL (256 points), OGDC (194 points), HUBC (170 points), HBL (152 points), and ENGRO (103 points).
Foreign selling continued this week clocking-in at USD 22.5mn compared to a net sell of USD 8.6 million last week.
Selling was witnessed in Commercial Banks (USD 7.6 million) and E&P (USD 4.8 million). On the domestic front, major buying was reported by Insurance Companies (USD 25.3 million) and Banks / DFIs (USD 7.8 million).
Average Volumes settled at 174 million shares (up by 63 percent WoW) while average value traded clocked-in at USD 48 million (up by 54 percent WoW).
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NBP announces 21% decline in after tax profit
KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on Friday announced 21 percent decline in its annual profit for period ended December 31, 2019. The bank declared Rs15.8 billion after tax profit for the year 2019 as cmopared with Rs20.01 billion in the last year.
According to unconsolidated profit and loss account, the bank declared basic earnings per share at Rs7.43 for the year 2019 as it was Rs9.41 EPS in 2018.
The net interest income of the bank rose by 18.53 percent to Rs71.9 billion for the period ended December 31, 2019 as compared with Rs60.66 billion a year ago. Non-mark up income of the bank was flat at Rs36.19 bllion when comared with Rs36.246 billion a year ago.
The operating expenses of the NBP increased by 18.02 percent to Rs65.725 billion when compared with Rs55.687 billion.
The provisioning for write-offs increased by 26.1 percent to Rs14.25 billion in 2019 as compared with Rs11.3 billion a year ago.
The tax payment of the bank also increased by 26.22 percent to Rs12.193 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared with Rs9.66 billion in 2018.
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FBR receives 2.45 million returns for TY2019, no date extension
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received 2.45 million income tax returns for tax year 2019 till evening of February 28, 2020, which is the last date for filing the returns.
A statement issued on Friday, the FBR said that the last date for filing income tax returns would not be extended further. The new active taxpayers list (ATL) for tax year 2019 will be updated by mid-night February 29, 2020.
The FBR said that those persons who were on the ATL-2018 but not filed their returns for tax year 2019 would not get their names on the new ATL.
The FBR said that it had received 2.45 million income tax returns for tax year 2019, which was 45 percent higher when compared with 1.68 million on the same date of the last year.
The FBR said that around 2.34 million individuals including salaried and business filed their returns for tax year 2019. Association of Persons (AOPs) filed 62,403 returns and companies filed 40,988 returns.
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Dr. Najeebullah posted as Commissioner LTU Karachi
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday transferred Dr. Najeebullah, an officer of Inland Revenue Service (BS-19) as Commissioner, Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), Karachi.
The FBR notified transfers and postings of IRS officers of BS-19 and BS-20.
Following officers have been transferred and posted:
01. Dr. Najeebullah (Inland Revenue Service/BS-19) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (OPS) (Zone-IV) Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi from the post of Additional Commissioner, (IR) Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi.
02. Zubair Bilal (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Director, Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation (Inland Revenue), Multan from the post of SA to Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (Hq), Islamabad.
03. Yasir Ali (Inland Revenue Service/BS-20) has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Inland Revenue (Corporate Zone) Regional Tax Office, Multan from the post of Director, Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation (Inland Revenue), Multan.
04. Zulfiqar Ali Memon (Inland Revenue Service/BS-19) has been transferred and posted as SA to Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (Hq), Islamabad from the post of Commissioner, (OPS) (Zone-IV) Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi.
The FBR said that the officers who are drawing performance allowance prior to issuance of this notification shall continue to draw this allowance on the new place of posting.
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Stock market ends down by 104 points amid IMF staff-level agreement
KARACHI: The stock market fell by 104 points on Friday amid reports of Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached on a staff-level agreement.
The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Index closed at 37,984 points as against 38,087 points showing a decline of 104 points.
Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued the path to recovery after melting yesterday and then later staging a comeback.
The index went up by 220 points and also saw -329 points, closing the session -104 points. Cement and Steel sectors remained the outperformers, with further price gains following yesterday’s performance. Banking sector scrips generally faced selling pressure with NBP bearing lower circuit, whereas BOP could post only nominal gain.
Continuous slide in international crude prices kept the E&P, OMCs and Refinery sector under pressure.
Cement sector topped the volumes with 48.3 million shares, followed by Banks (26.1 million) and O&GMCs (23.4 million). Among scrips, HASCOL realized 18.5 million shares, followed by MLCF (17.6 million) and UNITY (14 million).
Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-130 points), Banks (-90 points), Power (-32 points), O&GMCs (-16 points), Cement (+73 points), Fertilizer (+54 points), Pharma (+18 points).
Volumes increased from 147.9 million shares to 201.6 million shares (+36 percent DoD). Average traded value also increased by 23 percent to reach US$ 55.7 million as against US$ 45.1 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HASCOL, MLCF, UNITY, BOP and DGKC, which formed 36 percent of total volumes.
Stocks that contributed positively include ENGRO (+39 points), LUCK (+34 points), MEBL (+29 points), FFC (+18 points) and SEARL (+17 points). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-46 points), PPL (-45 points), OGDC (-41 points), MCB (-35 points), and POL (-31 points).
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Rupee ends down by two paisas against dollar
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee eased by two paisas against dollar on Friday in range bound trading activities, dealers said.
The rupee closed at Rs154.23 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs154.21 in interbank foreign exchange market.
The currency dealers said that the market was remained dull during the day owing to lackluster demand from importers and corporate buyers.
However, slight demand was seen due to the last week day, they added.
The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs154.21 and Rs154.24. The market recorded day high of Rs154.24 and low of Rs154.19 and closed at Rs154.23.
The exchange rate in open market witnessed depreciation in rupee value. The buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs154.10/Rs154.40 from previous day’s closing of Rs154.00/Rs154.30 in interbank foreign exchange market.