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Category: Corporate

  • Hascol, Vitol Dubai enter $42 million financial arrangement

    Hascol, Vitol Dubai enter $42 million financial arrangement

    KARACHI: Vitol Dubai Limited (VDL) has agreed to provide financial facility of $42 million to Hascol Petroleum Limited, an announcement said on Monday.

    The announcement informed Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that Hascol Petroleum Limited and Vitol Dubai Limited, a major shareholder of Hascol, had entered into financial arrangement whereby VDL had agreed to provide facilities of $42 million.

    The financial facilities included: Bank guarantee facility of $15 million; open credit limit facility of $12 million; and stock availability at HTL Port Qasim Terminal of $15 million.

    The company said that the arrangement would further strengthen the supply chain of the company.

    Hascol Petroleum Limited is engaged in the purchase, storage and sale of petroleum products such as High Speed Diesel, Gasoline, Fuel Oil and FUCHS lubricants.

    In February 2005 Hascol was granted an oil marketing license by the Government of Pakistan and since then, Hascol has been engaged in developing a retail network under Hascol brand and have commissioned over 500 retail outlets in the four provinces of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

    Hascol Petroleum Limited has extensive links with the domestic and international oil trading companies and today is the second largest importer of petroleum products after PSO.

    Hascol also markets LPG. At present 15 Automax LPG Stations across Pakistan are in various stages of approvals with the government of Pakistan.

    Hascol has become a member of the highly esteemed listed companies of Pakistan Stock Exchange and its share price has appreciated considerably since the listing in 2014, keeping in pace with the phenomenal growth of the company.

    This massive growth has been made possible due to the strategic vision of the Board and excellent execution by Senior Management.

    Hascol has made major headway in constructing storage facilities at Keamari, Daulatpur, Shikarpur, Mehmood Kot, Machike and Amangarh. New storage facilities are compeleted for Sahiwal, Kotlajam and Thalian.

    In 2016, VITOL, the largest independent oil trading entity in the world, acquired 15 percent equity in Hascol which was later increased to 27.46 percent making VITOL the single largest shareholder in the Company.
    In joint venture with VITOL, Hascol has also set up an LNG marketing company, VAS LNG (PVT) LTD.

    Hascol will have a 30 percent stake in this company and VITOL 70 percent. Hascol has also signed a Technical Services Agreement with VITOL Aviation enabling Hascol to start fueling aircrafts at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports.

    Additionally, a separate joint venture company with VITOL, Hascol Terminals Limited (HTL) has constructed one of the largest Petroleum Terminals in Pakistan at Port Qasim, having a capacity of 197,000 Metric Tons. Phase I of this terminal was commissioned in March 2019.

  • Oversight Board revokes registration of audit firm

    Oversight Board revokes registration of audit firm

    KARACHI: The Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has revoked the registration of an audit firm and thereby stopped it from carrying out audit of public interest companies, a statement said on Wednesday.

    “In line with its regular monitoring plan, AOB initiated an inspection of records to assess the audit quality of the firm, Mudassar Ehtisham & Co., in March 2019.”

    The firm requested that inspection be delayed by three months. The firm’s request was declined because inspection was of past audit records that should have been readily available.

    Later, the firm did not let AOB inspectors conduct the inspection on the scheduled date when they visited the office of the firm in Lahore.

    Accordingly, AOB served a show cause notice on the firm and provided an opportunity to explain its position in writing and also provided an opportunity of being heard.

    In the third hearing on 30 April 2019, the firm informed AOB that it is willing to get its records inspected. However, when AOB inspection team visited the office of the firm on 6 May 2019, it still did not provide complete information and the information that it provided carried instances of falsification.

    AOB provided further opportunities to the firm to explain itself, however, the firm did not submit any written explanation, nor did it attend the opportunity of being heard.

    Not providing required information to the regulator and falsification of the provided information are grave violations. At that stage, AOB informed the firm that under the circumstances, it shall have no option but to bring the matter to its logical end through an appropriate order.

    “Shareholders and lenders rely on audited financial statements of companies for their financial decisions and they trust the external auditor’s opinion that the financial statements prepared by the management present a true and fair view of the company’s financials,” said Usman Hayat, CEO, AOB.

    AOB is the independent audit regulator in Pakistan established by the parliament in 2016 to protect the public interest by overseeing the quality of audit of financial statements of public interest companies.

    There are more than 1000 public interest companies in Pakistan which include all listed companies and non-listed public sector companies. Out of over 550 audit firms in Pakistan, 121 have a satisfactory quality rating and 101 are currently registered with AOB. Only the audit firms registered with AOB can audit the financial statements of a public interest company.

  • Largest share offering: Hubco raises Rs7 billion through right shares

    Largest share offering: Hubco raises Rs7 billion through right shares

    KARACHI: The largest independent power producer of Pakistan, Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO) has issued right shares and raised an amount of Rs7 billion from Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), a statement said on Thursday.

    The Right Share is priced at Rs50 per share and the company has issued 140 million shares, as decided by the Board of Directors of Hubco.

    Considering the size of the offering, the Right Issuance is viewed as one of the largest share offering in the history of PSX.

    The purpose of Rights Issuance is to raise funds which will be utilized to consolidate Hubco’s energy portfolio and increase its shareholding in China Power Hub Generation Company (CPHGC) from 26 percent to 47.5 percent”, said Khalid Mansoor, Chief Executive of Hubco. CPHGC is a joint venture between China Power International Holding Ltd (CPIH) and Hubco under which development, construction and operation of 2x660MW Imported Coal-Fired Power Plant is being funded by the two companies.

    Both the units of CPHGC have been synchronized with the National Grid and the Project is expected to start its commercial operations by August 2019. With the aim of “Fueling lives through Energy.”

    The Hub Power Company Limited currently produces over 1600 MW through its three plants located in Hub at Baluchistan, Narowal in Punjab and Mirpur in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, generating around 8 percent of the total power generation capacity in the country.

    The Company is the only power producer in Pakistan with four upcoming projects listed in the CPEC and currently under-construction namely imported coal-based China Power Hub Generation Company (Private) Limited (CPHGC) at Hub, Thar Energy Limited (TEL) and Thalnova Power Thar (Pvt.) Ltd. and Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) at Thar Block II. The power generation capacity of the Company will enhance to over 3580MW after completion of the aforementioned power projects.

  • PIA implements business plan to improve financial health

    PIA implements business plan to improve financial health

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC) has implemented strategic business plan to improve its financial health, according to Economic Survey 2018/2019 launched a day earlier.

    It said PIA came into existence in 1955 as Public Sector organization.

    However, in April 2016 it was converted from a statuary organization to a company governed by Companies Act 1984, through Pakistan International Airlines Limited (PIAL conversion) Act 2016.

    At present PIA is passing through a dire financial state. However, the present government is very keen to make itself-reliant.

    Efforts are underway to improve the financial health of the corporation by reducing its losses through various means and modes. Stringent action is being taken against corruption and mismanagement.

    Despite financial constraints and tough and uneven competitive environment, PIACL gave a stable performance during 2018.

    To reduce losses, PIA had to take measures like route rationalization and suspended its loss making routes.

    PIA is in the process of its Strategic Business Plan 2019-23 to improve its performance:

    i. Launching of profitable new routes like Silakot-Sharjha, Lahore-Muscat, Islamabad-Doha and Lahore-Bangkok-Kualalalmpur. These routes are going very strong and economically viable

    ii. More new routes have been started which include; Sialkot-Paris-Barcelona, Peshawar-Sharjha, Peshawar-Al Ain and Multan-Sharjha

    iii. Increasing frequencies and capacity on profitable routes like Jeddah and Madinah coupled with closure of loss making routes like New York, Salalah (Oman), Kuwait, Mumbai

    iv. Stoppage of all officiating and extra allowances given on additional assignments to officials

    v. Ban on overtime allowances in all cadres along with monitoring of flights by senior officials

    vi. Increasing regularity and punctuality of flights by assigning target to be achieved 90 percent

    vii. Improvement in flight services, training of crew and regular monitoring

    viii. Introduction of executive economy class on European and Gulf sectors which are attracting more customers

    ix. Rationalization of fares according to market demand thus helping in increase of seat factor

    x. Delays of flights have been cut down significantly by better planning in engineering, flight operation and ground handling departments

    xi. Special emphasis on cargo business with monitoring of performance, rationalization of cargo fares and more effective liaison with all stakeholders

    The survey said PIA is in process of acquiring new aircraft for its fleet. Presently, a tender has been floated for four narrow body aircrafts according to PPRA rules.

    PIA has submitted its business plan to the federal government and now it is under consideration for approval of Federal Cabinet.

  • Engro Fertilizers, DFAT train over 4,000 smallholder farmers

    Engro Fertilizers, DFAT train over 4,000 smallholder farmers

    LAHORE: Engro Fertilizers Limited, Engro Foundation and the Department of Foreign Aid and Trade (DFAT), Government of Australia have successfully trained more than 4,000 smallholder farmers so far, including 600 women, on quality certified seed use over two years.

    Additionally, the project has developed approximately 290 enterprising smallholder farmers, 124 among whom are women, to produce their own quality farm-saved seed for further exchange, distribution and selling among the fellow farmers in nearby villages.

    Co-funded by Engro Fertilizers Limited and the Department of Foreign Aid and Trade (DFAT), Government of Australia, Partnerships and Value Expansion in Seeds Value Chain (PAVE) project aims to build capacities of smallholder farmers to become high-skilled seed multipliers and become part of seed supply chain, as well as using certified seed in their regular cropping to earn higher incomes.

    For this successful project, Engro Fertilizers Limited and Engro Foundation have also received an international award at the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan.

    Sharing his thoughts on this achievement, Nadir Salar Qureshi, CEO of Engro Fertilizers, said, “At Engro Fertilizers, our goal is to promote food security in Pakistan by empowering smallholder farmers to implement sound agricultural practices, and to equip them to overcome barriers of entry in the marketplace. PAVE is a much-needed initiative in this direction.” He added, “AREA 2019 recognizes some of the most impressive business practices in the region, and we are humbled to be named alongside some very laudable sustainability initiatives.”

    PAVE successfully completed its first year of operations in March 2019 and is running under the leadership of Engro Fertilizers’ Crop Sciences Division in partnership with Engro Foundation and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), Canada – an implementing partner in the project.

    Regarded as the top corporate social responsibility (CSR) awards in Asia, AREA is organized annually by Enterprise Asia, a leading non-governmental organization for responsible entrepreneurship in Asia. AREA aims to recognize and honour Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially responsible business practices.

  • OGDCL discovers huge deposits of gas in Sindh

    OGDCL discovers huge deposits of gas in Sindh

    KARACHI: Oil and Gad Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has discovered huge amount of gas at exploratory well Mangrio 01, District Tando Muhammad Khan, Sindh Province.

    In a statement on Monday, the company said that the structure of Mangrio Well 01 was drilled and tested using OGDCL’s in house expertise.

    The well was drilled down to the depth of 2676 meters. The well has tested 10.44 MMSCFD gas, 120 BPD condensate through choke size 32/64” at Wellhead flowing pressure 2085 psi from lower Guru B-Sand.

    The discovery of Mangrio Well is the result of aggressive exploratory strategy adopted by the company.

    “It has opened a new avenue and would add to the hydrocarbon reserves base of the OGDCL and of the country,” it added.

  • Secured transactions registry established in SECP

    Secured transactions registry established in SECP

    In a significant development aimed at improving access to credit for small businesses and the agriculture sector, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has officially established the Secured Transaction Registry (STR). This registry will record charges and security interests created by entities on their movable assets, facilitating easier and more secure access to loans.

    (more…)
  • Meezan Bank signs payment services pact with PSL

    Meezan Bank signs payment services pact with PSL

    KARACHI: Meezan Bank, leading Islamic bank in Pakistan, has recently joined hands with Port Services Limited (PSL), Sialkot as their exclusive partner for payments & cash management services, a statement said on Wednesday.

    The agreement was signed by Abdullah Ahmed – Group Head Corporate & Institutional Banking, Meezan Bank and Navid Iqbal Sheikh – Director, Port Services Limited (Chairman SDPT) along with key members of their teams.

    Under this agreement, the Bank will provide Payments & Cash Management services to Port Services Limited through its state-of-the-art web based electronic solution ‘eBiz+’.

    With the largest Islamic banking network of 660 online branches in the country, the Bank’s Cash Management suite will help increase efficiency, optimize cash flow position and manage operational complexities to streamline the company’s receivables and payables.

    Abdullah Ahmed while speaking at the occasion, said: “This agreement between Port Services Limited, Sialkot and Meezan Bank is a testimony of the Bank’s expertise in the field of payment and cash management services.

    “We are confident that Port Services Limited will benefit from the efficiency and controls provided by the Bank’s digitalized Payments & Cash Management solutions – e-Biz+ that is based on latest technology.”

  • Careem signs agreement to provide logistic solution to Unilever

    Careem signs agreement to provide logistic solution to Unilever

    KARACHI: Careem – the app based logistic service – has signed an agreement to provide solution to Unilever for its logistic business.

    A statement on Wednesday said that Careem and Unilever Pakistan have entered into a strategic partnership whereby Careem has agreed to provide an app based solution to Unilever for its logistics business.

    The digital solution provided by Careem will improve service levels and cost for Unilever by implementing new business models through innovative technologies.

    Key target areas the solution will focus on include the delivery of left over stock that can be transported through Careem, delivery of stock to remote locations, as well as urgent deliveries.

  • OMCs sales sharply decline by 25pc in 10 months

    OMCs sales sharply decline by 25pc in 10 months

    KARACHI: The sales of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) massively declined by 25 percent during first ten months (July – April) of current fiscal year owing to slowdown in economic activities.

    The sales of OMCs fell to around 15.28 million tons during July – April 2018/2019 as compared with 20.4 million tons in the same period of the last fiscal year.

    Analysts at Topline Securities attributed the massive fall in sales to slowdown in economic activities and sharp decline in furnace oil.

    They said that Pakistan OMCs sales continued to suffer, where volumetric sales for April 2019 nosedived 16 percent YoY on back of 33 percent YoY lower furnace oil volumes and decline in high speed diesel volumes by 18 percent YoY.

    FO sales continued to feel pinch amid availability of RLNG/Coal for power generation. While, HSD volumes are down on YoY basis due to slowdown in economic activities.

    Petrol sales touched 20-Month high (in absolute terms), +2 percent YoY vs. +17 percent YoY in April 2018.

    Lower growth in MS could be attributed to increase in its prices by around 15 percent YoY coupled with overall slowdown in economy.

    In MS oil segment, PSO witnessed increase in market share by 4.3ppts YoY to 39.6 percent, while Hascol share has declined by 8.3ppts YoY to 7 percent as the company has changed its focus from higher volumes to higher margins.

    Similarly, unlisted player GNO gained 3.4ppts YoY in its market share.

    On HSD front, Hascol has lost 7.5ppts YoY in its market share to 7.1 percent, while GNO has gained 7.5ppts YoY and now commands 12 percent of the market.