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Category: Corporate

  • Philip Morris declares Rs1.76bn after tax annual profit

    Philip Morris declares Rs1.76bn after tax annual profit

    KARACHI: Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited on Thursday declared a profit of Rs1.76 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020 as against loss of Rs1.96 billion in the preceding year.

    A statement said that the company recorded profit after tax of Rs1.765 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to loss after tax of Rs1.980 billion for the year ended 2019.

    The increase in operating profit before tax compared to last year is mainly due to significant decrease in ‘other expenses’ by Rs2.732 billion. This decrease in other expenses is primarily attributable to one-off impairment and employee separation cost charged on account of closure of our factory in Kotri during 2019.

    During the year ended, the Company’s volume declined by 20 percent mainly reflecting the pressure faced by the legally compliant tax paying cigarette sector from the expanding illicit one, which now accounts for approximate 37 percent of the total market for the year 2020 versus 33.1 percent for the year 2019 (Retail Audit).

    The Company’s contribution to the National Exchequer, for the year ended December 31, 2020, in the form of excise duty, sales tax and other government levies, stood at Rs22.110 billion, a decrease of 6 percent, compared to the preceding year.

    This is mainly attributable to the excessive excise duty increases of 93 percent (Value Tier) during Federal Budgets of September 2018 and June 2019 that stretched the price gap between duty evaded and duty paid cigarettes which are selling at lower prices than the minimum price prescribed under tax regime with respect to levy and collection of federal excise duty i.e. Rs63/ per pack.

    In March 2020, the government issued a Statutory Regulatory Order No. 72(I)/2020 further restricting advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco products leading to a lack of a level playing field for law abiding corporates.

    During the period ended December 31, 2020 the Company’s domestic net turnover stood at Rs13.983 billion resulting in an increase of 7 percent driven by the excise led price increase in June 2019 coupled with price increase in February 2020, both were essential to offset the adverse impact of severe volume decline of 20 percent versus 2019.

    During the same time, the Company’s exports turnover stood at Rs2.613 billion (US$ 16.3 million) showing a significant increase as compared to last year shows the Company’s commitment to support Pakistan’s goals of increasing exports and earn foreign exchange for the Country.

  • Dun & Bradstreet signs pact with Trade Foresight for verified business data

    Dun & Bradstreet signs pact with Trade Foresight for verified business data

    KARACHI: Trade Foresight has entered into an agreement with Dun & Bradstreet Pakistan (D&B), the world’s leading source of business information and insights. Under the agreement, D&B will power Trade Foresight with D&B Verified Company and Business Profiles.

    Integrating D&B’s Verified and Globally recognized Business Profiles will allow Trade Foresight’s customers to have access to the largest corporate database and make more confident business decisions by viewing verified Business Profiles and D&B Ratings.

    D&B shall power Tarde Foresight by enabling state-of-the-art API integration tools (Direct+), completely automating the data and information sharing process between both Companies.

    Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), with a presence of over 179 years and operating in over 200 countries, is a global Information Services and Risk Management Company. D&B, which possesses over 400 million business records worldwide, provides robust data and compliance solutions to millions of businesses, including over 90% of fortune 500 companies.

    On the occasion of the signing, Nauman Lakhani, County Head for Dun & Bradstreet in Pakistan, said: “Dun & Bradstreet is delighted to empower Trade Foresight/Inseyab with the world’s largest database as well as insights. We are confident that clients of Trade Foresight/Inseyab will surely benefit from this arrangement. For the last 2 years, our presence in Pakistan has seen us working with Financial Service Providers and Corporates alike. This collaboration has the potential to reach a large pool of local businesses for the facilitation of their data needs.”

    Speaking on occasion, Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Khan, CEO & Founder of Trade Foresight/Inseyab, said, “Trade Foresight is currently being used by the Traders and Trade Associations of more than 30 countries, and the platform is helping them make effective trade decisions. One of the key challenges that we were facing was around Trader’s Data validation, and having Dun & Bradstreet as our partner helps us solve this issue. We look forward to supporting our traders by helping them connect with verified local/international trade partners and grow their businesses globally. Our vision is to help Pakistan balance its trade deficit, and we believe that digitally equipping Pakistani traders with the verified data and tools can have a positive impact in the achievement of this vision.”

    Trade Foresight is the World’s First Data and Analytics-Driven Trade Platform that provides companies trade insights that facilitate informed decisions. With offices across 5 countries, the platform enables this by highlighting potential risks via integrated/correlated trade data from verified sources. Trade Foresight helps identify opportunities that can support businesses in increasing their export market share and ensuring a resilient import supply chain.

  • Meezan Bank, Master Group sign agreement for online solution

    Meezan Bank, Master Group sign agreement for online solution

    KARACHI: Meezan Bank Limited and Master Group have signed an agreement for the online banking solution, a statement said on Monday.

    According to the agreement that was signed recently, Meezan Bank, through the provision of its state-of-the-art online banking solution, named eBiz+, will enable Master Group to fully automate its customer collections and supplier payments, catering to every client’s needs with a configurable and intelligent platform.

    The partnership will focus on creating value for Master Group by serving as an end-to-end transaction banking ecosystem based around an array of services covering working capital cycle, standardized reporting, greater safety and efficiency as well as world-class cyber security – all in one place, via eBiz+ – an integrated solution.

    The agreement was signed by Abdullah Ahmed – Group Head, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Meezan Bank and Shahzad Malik – Managing Director, Master Group.

    Also present at the occasion were Senior Executives of both organizations including Saqib Ashraf – Head of Transaction Banking, Meezan Bank, Amir Mushtaq Butt – Director Finance, Master Group and others.

    Abdullah Ahmed, while speaking at the occasion said: “As Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank, Meezan Bank has sophisticated Transaction Banking services including cash management.

    “We are thrilled to partner with Master Group as a trusted collaborator to automate their business/banking processes while ensuring operational integrity resulting in business efficiency with utmost security.”

    Meezan Bank is capitalizing on the strong trend in the banking industry towards digital banking with more and more clients preferring more specific internet banking solutions. Shahzad Malik commended the Bank for bringing forth operational efficiency in its payments & collection process.

  • Lucky Cement starts commercial operation in Iraq

    Lucky Cement starts commercial operation in Iraq

    KARACHI: Lucky Cement Limited on Thursday announced it has commenced commercial operation of cement production facility in Iraq.

    In a communication, the company said that the Greenfield cement production facility in Samawah, Iraq with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per annum has successfully commenced its commercial operations with effect from March 10, 2021.

    The cement production facility is a joint venture with Al-Shamookh group of Iraq.

    The company further said that consequent to the addition, its overseas cement capacity increased at 4.12 million tons per annum.

    Details of the overseas production facility are as follow:

    – Cement Grinding Plant in Basra, Iraq: 1.74 MTPA

    – Fully integrated cement plant in democratic republic of Congo: 1.18 MPTA

    – Fully integrated cement plant in Samawah, Iraq: 1.2 MPTA

  • EFU Life Assurance’s death, disability claim payment increases by 23 percent

    EFU Life Assurance’s death, disability claim payment increases by 23 percent

    KARACHI: EFU Life Assurance Limited has settled death and disability claims of Rs3.86 billion in the year 2020, which is 23 percent higher than the preceding year, according to the financial report of the company.

    It said that timely and efficient claims settlement is at the heart of the company’s business.

    In 2020, the company settled total death and disability claims of Rs. 3.86 billion (2019: 3.14 billion), an increase of 23 percent.

    Out of this, Individual Life claims were Rs1.32 billion and Group Life claims amounted to Rs. 2.54 billion.

    Both lines of business have been impacted by death claims due to COVID-19, however the incremental claims are within the mortality fluctuation tolerance levels set by the company.

    The company has appropriate and adequate reinsurance arrangements in place to mitigate the impact of these additional pandemic related claims.

    According to the results, the company achieved a gross premium (including Takaful contributions) of Rs32.55 billion (2019: 31.75 billion), a slight growth of 2.5 percent.

    The gross premium composition was as follows:

    Individual Life regular premiums (including Takaful contributions) grew by 4.6 percent, achieving a total premium of Rs.28.72 billion (2019: Rs. 27.45 billion).

    Individual life New Business was impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns during which our distribution channels were unable to reach out to retail clients.

    The new business premium contracted to Rs6.21 billion (2019: 6.99 billion).

    Bancassurance was impacted to a greater degree due to limited banking activities during the second and third quarter of the year, while the Agency Sales force was able to make a positive recovery towards the end of the year.

    Renewal premium is a critical indicator of customer satisfaction and grew to Rs. 22.5 billion (2019: Rs. 20.45 billion), a modest increase of 10 percent. Persistency is in the

    DNA of the Company and client retention activities continued throughout the year in parallel to the pandemic when various segments of clients found it to challenging to continue their policies.

    These retention activities, for both Sale Force and Bancassurance, yielded positive results and both channels, towards end of the year, were able to improve their respective persistency levels.

    Group Benefits gross premium, including Takaful contributions, contracted to Rs. 3.23 billion (2019: Rs 3.58 billion).

    The Window Takaful Operations of the Company, Hemayah, are in their sixth year of operations and have continued to show good growth.

    The increase in demand for Islamic financial products over the years has also benefited the Company’s takaful line of business. During 2020, the Company achieved a gross takaful contribution of Rs. 5.42 billion (2019: Rs. 4.21 billion), registering an impressive growth of 29 percent.

    The Individual Family takaful new business was Rs. 2.04 billion (2019: 1.77 billion), a growth of 15 percent. Renewal contribution was Rs. 2.83 billion (2019: Rs. 1.94 billion), recording a high growth of 46 percent.

    For Group Family Takaful, the Company achieved a business of Rs. 309 million. (2019: 326 million). Overall the company expects its Takaful line of business to continue its growth trajectory during 2021.

  • Hubco acquires Eni operations in Pakistan

    Hubco acquires Eni operations in Pakistan

    KARACHI: The Hub Power Holding Limited on Monday announced to acquire all upstream operations of Eni in Pakistan.

    In an information shared by the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the it said that the Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO) together with ENI’s local employees (in a 50:50 joint venture) has executed definitive agreements to acquire all upstream operations in Pakistan of Eni and renewable energy assets owned by Eni in Pakistan.

    By way of background, Eni is global energy company, which has been operating in Pakistan since the year 2000 in the exploration and production sector.

    The company said that the transactions is subject to requisite compliance with applicable legal and regulatory processes and approval from competent authorities.

  • Standard Chartered Bank declares 18pc fall in annual profit

    Standard Chartered Bank declares 18pc fall in annual profit

    KARACHI: Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) has declared annual profit of Rs13.13 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020, which was reduced by 18 percent when compared with Rs16 billion in the preceding year.

    According to financial results shared with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, the fall in annual profit may be attributed to significant increase in provisioning and write offs during the year.

    The provisioning and write offs of the banks increased to Rs4.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020 when compared with Rs16.81 million in the preceding year.

    According to the financial results of the bank, an amount of Rs4.77 billion was cost under the head of provision against loans and advances for the year ended December 31, 2020.

    Net Interest Income of the bank slightly increased to Rs28.14 billion for the year under review as compared with Rs27.78 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

    Total income of the bank during the year also posted nominal growth to Rs40.93 billion when compared with Rs39 billion in the preceding year.

    Total expenses of the bank also increased slightly to Rs12.38 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020 when compared with Rs27.18 billion in the preceding year.

    The bank paid Rs10.48 billion as tax for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs11.18 billion in the preceding year.

    Earnings per share of the bank fell to Rs3.39 as compared with EPS of Rs4.14 in the last year.

  • Engro Fertilizers wins DuPont Award

    Engro Fertilizers wins DuPont Award

    KARACHI: Engro Fertilizers has been declared as one of only three global award winners at the virtual ceremony of 14th DuPont Safety and Sustainability Awards, a press release said on Wednesday.

    As a recipient of the Global Safety Innovation Award, Engro Fertilizers has been recognized for making innovative and systemic changes to its operations to achieve higher health, safety, and environment (HSE) standards.

    The Company undertook a root and branch overhaul of its safety systems, invested in digitization initiatives, and doubled down efforts on development of new capabilities.

    In line with Engro’s philosophy of being world class in HSE, the all-encompassing Safety Beyond Excellence strategy led to an 87 percent reduction in the Total Recordable Incident Rate, resulted in a sharp reduction in operational upsets / fire incidents, significantly improved risk management and led to an increase in employee and stakeholder engagement.

    The other two DuPont global award winners are Dubai Municipality, UAE and SMRT Trains Ltd, Singapore. Engro Fertilizers edged out Saudi Arabia-based Saudi Aramco, named the winner in the EMEA region, and Brazil-based Usina Coruripe, which took home the Americas award.

    Sharing the Company’s journey of safety excellence and achievements in a panel discussion, Nadir Qureshi – CEO of Engro Fertilizers, said that, “A relentless commitment to safety is one of the core values of Engro. We have always strived to set world class HSE standards for both our employees and the communities in which we live and operate.

    “This focus is continuously reinforced by our leaderships’ commitment, with my Chairman and Board regularly highlighting this core commitment and our teams embodying this culture.

    “We are humbled by this global accolade and it is our endeavor to get to similar levels of world-class safety in the new logistics business that was launched 18 months ago with the aspiration of becoming the country’s leading long haul service provider.”

    Syed Shahzad Nabi – Senior Vice President Manufacturing, added that, “To develop the team, we put a lot of focus on enhancing the skill level both in terms of the core job, safety system and creativity. Our Transitional Training Model, followed by hands on training, enables all employees to undergo technical training and be aware of associated safety hazards.”

    In 2020, Engro Fertilizers was recognized locally and globally with several awards for displaying commitment and focus towards ensuring employee well-being and maintaining HSE standards.

    These awards include the Country Best Award by the British Safety Council, Health & Safety Silver Award by Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, eight Green Office Awards by the World Wildlife Foundation, the Annual Fire Safety Excellence Award by the NFEH and the overall Platinum Award in Occupational Safety and Health at the Best Practices in OSH Awards.

  • PPL declares 18pc decline in gross profit in first half

    PPL declares 18pc decline in gross profit in first half

    KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) on Friday declared 18 percent decline in its gross profit for the period July – December 2020.

    However, drastic reduction in exploration expenses and other charges the net profit (after payment of tax) of the company managed to post a growth of 7 percent for the period.

    The company declared Rs42.2 billion as gross profit for the first half of 2020/2021 as compared with Rs51.39 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.

    The major fall in gross profit may be attributed to revenue which fell to Rs75.54 billion for the six month period ended December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs85.41 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    The company declared profit after tax of Rs26.27 billion for the first half of the current fiscal year as compared with Rs24.55 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    The growth in after tax profit can be attributed to drastic reduction in expenses of the company.

    The cost of exploration has been reduced to Rs3.146 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared with Rs11.74 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

    The cost of other charges also fell to Rs3.88 billion for the half under review as compared with Rs7.32 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.

    PPL announced earnings per share at Rs9.64 for the first half ended December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs9.02 EPS declared in the same half of the last year.

  • UBL declares Rs20.9bn as annual after tax profit

    UBL declares Rs20.9bn as annual after tax profit

    KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) on Thursday announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The bank made provisioning and write-offs to the tune of Rs16.77 billion or 104 percent higher which trimmed its annual profit growth to 9.25 percent.

    The bank announced an amount of Rs20.9 billion as profit after tax for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs19.13 billion profit after tax in the preceding year.

    The bank made provisioning and write-offs an amount of Rs16.77 billion for the year under review as compared with Rs8.22 billion in the preceding year.

    UBL announced earnings per share at Rs17.07 for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared with Rs8.22 in the preceding year.

    Net interest income of the bank increased by 21.42 percent to Rs75 billion for the year under review as compared with Rs61.77 billion in the preceding year.

    Total income of the bank posted 10.24 percent growth to Rs92 billion as against Rs83.45 billion.

    Operating expenses of the bank were flat at Rs40.66 billion as compared with Rs40.21 billion.

    UBL announced a final cash dividend for the year ended December 31, 2020 at Rs9.50 per share i.e. 95 percent. This is in addition to interim dividend already paid at Rs2.50 per share i.e. 25 percent.

    UBL gets DD approval to acquire Telenor Microfinance Bank