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KARACHI: The dollar continued losing its value against the Pak Rupee (PKR) on Friday since Saudi Arabia announced to place $3 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan.
The rupee recovered 61 paisas to Rs171.65 to the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs172.26 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
The rupee hit the historic low at Rs175.27 on October 27, 2021.
Saudi Arabia announced additional support of $3 billion to Pakistan for building its foreign exchange reserves. The additional financial support is besides a $1.2 billion dollars deferred oil facility to Pakistan to help its balance of payment issues, an official statement said.
Currency dealers said that Pakistan needs more inflows to stabilize the local currency. They said that the exchange rates are facing immense external payment pressure.
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has slapped a heavy monetary penalty of over Rs280 million on the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for violating instructions pertaining to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT).
The central bank imposed a monetary penalty on four banks during the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The SBP imposed Rs465 million as monetary penalties on the four banks for similar deviation.
The SBP imposed a penalty of Rs132.44 million on Silk Bank Limited, Rs38.55 million on United Bank Limited and Rs13.54 million on Industrial and Commercial Bank of China-Pakistan Branches.
In addition to penal action, the banks have been advised to strengthen its processes with respect to identified areas.
The SBP from July 2019 started public disclosure of penal action against banks. “Enforcement actions are an integral part of a regulatory regime which involves the imposition of monetary penalties and other actions against institutions and individuals for violations of laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or directives issued by SBP from time to time,” according to a circular issued by the central bank.
In order to bring more transparency and strengthen market discipline, SBP has decided to publicly disclose significant enforcement actions.
KARACHI: Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Friday announced its financial result, posting a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs33.629 billion during the first quarter ended September 30, 2021.
The profit of the company has surged by 44 per cent when compared with the net profit of Rs23.344 billion in the first quarter of the last fiscal year.
The company declared earnings per share at Rs7.82 for the quarter under review as compared with Rs5.43 in the same quarter of the last year.
Alongside the result, the company announced an interim cash dividend of Rs 1.75/share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021/2022 (Rs 2.00 in 1QFY21).
According to Arif Habib Research, topline clocked-in at Rs71,531 million in 1QFY22 against Rs56,347 million in same period last year (SPLY), up by 27 per cent YoY, on the back of i) a massive 70 per cent YoY jump in oil prices, and ii) 4 per cent YoY growth in oil production. Whereas, gas production plummeted by 10 per cent YoY during the quarter. On a sequential basis, net sales ascended by 14 per cent given 9 per cent QoQ growth in oil prices along 2 per cent QoQ higher oil production.
The exploration costs declined by 23 per cent YoY arriving at Rs 2,283 million in 1QFY22 given dry well (Bago Phulphoto) reported during the quarter compared to three dry wells (Jun-01, Umair North West and Jatoi-01) incurred in SPLY. Whereas on QoQ basis, exploration costs plunged by 65 per cent given two drys (Washuk-01 and Kambir) and higher seismic activity incurred in 4QFY21.
Other income in 1QFY22 settled at Rs 10,878 million versus Rs 5,958 million in SPLY, significantly up 83 per cent YoY, amid exchange gain on foreign currency tagged with higher income from cash and cash balances. Similarly, other income on QoQ basis climbed up by 89 per cent due to USD appreciation against Rs.
The company booked effective taxation at 36 per cent in 1QFY22 vis-à-vis 31 per cent in 1QFY21.
KARACHI: Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Ltd. (GATM) on Friday declared over 67 per cent growth in after tax profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.
According to the financial results shared with the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the textile unit declared Rs1.167 billion as profit after tax for the first quarter (July – September) 2021 as compared with profit after tax of Rs697 million in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
The company declared earnings per share at Rs2.73 for the period under review as compared with Rs1.63 in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The sales of the company increased to Rs24.64 billion during the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared with Rs20.32 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The textile unit declared gross profit at Rs5.04 billion for July-September 2021 as compared with Rs3.69 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The board of directors of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited in its meeting held on October 28, 2021 approved the financial results. The board has not recommended any cash dividend, bonus shares or right shares.
ISLAMABAD: Inspection Commission constituted by Prime Minister Imran Khan, in its first phase initiated proceedings against 50 individuals and entities nominated in the Pandora Papers.
The proceeding is likely to expand in due course, said a press release on Thursday.
The process will be concluded strictly in accordance with law and whenever necessary, enforcement powers would be invoked directly or through concerned law enforcement agencies.
The Prime Minister Inspection Commission (PMIC) has commenced its proceedings regarding the Pandora Papers, the process for collection of information and data is underway.
Since initial disclosure regarding offshore companies and trusts were made by ICIJ and its partner journalists, information and assistance is being sought from the said sources.
The purpose of ongoing proceedings is to identify cases which may potentially involve any breach of law especially by present or past holders of public office.
The task also includes referral of cases to the relevant authorities for necessary action from tax evasion or money laundering aspects.
In order to maintain objectivity and fairness, the opportunity of representation in person or through written communication would be provided to the individuals who on the basis of available data are required to clarify their offshore ventures.
PMIC would welcome information from the public and encourage whistle-blowers to come forward for disclosure in the interest of transparency.
Facebook at its annual developer conference announced to change the name to Meta. The company said it would better “encompass” what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality.
According to BBC, the company, which announced the change at its annual developer conference, said it would better “encompass” what the firm now does. It also revealed plans for a metaverse – an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
The name change follows a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee.
“The metaverse is the next frontier,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a presentation at Facebook’s Connect conference, held virtually on Thursday. “From now on, we’re going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.”
Facebook’s name change is the most definitive signal so far of the company’s intention to stake its future on a new computing platform — the metaverse, an idea born in the imaginations of sci-fi novelists, according to Bloomberg.
In Facebook’s vision, people will congregate and communicate by entering virtual environments, whether they’re talking with colleagues in a boardroom or hanging out with friends in far-flung corners of the world.
The bank declared Rs9.91 billion as profit after tax during January – September 2021 as compared with Rs11.91 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.
The earnings per share of the bank also declined to Rs2.56 for the period under review as compared with Rs3.08 in the same period of the last year.
SCBL in its financial statement said that despite uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, the bank delivered a resilient financial performance with a profit before tax of Rs18.4 billion compared to Rs19.9 billion in the corresponding period last year.
The revenue of the bank fell to Rs26.56 billion during first nine months of the calendar year as compared with Rs32.07 billion in the corresponding months of the last year. The bank said that the revenue was lower by Rs5.5billion primarily due to sharp reduction in interest rates in second quarter of 2020, subdued economic activity and market volatility which impacted foreign exchange income, revaluation income on derivatives and gain on sale of securities.
Administrative costs continue to be well managed through operational efficiencies and disciplined spending with an increase of one per cent compared to same period last year.
Moreover, strong recoveries of bad debts, coupled with lower impairments as a result o a prudent risk approach led to a net release of Rs0.8 billion in year to date September 2021 compared to charge of Rs3.2 billion in the comparative period.
The bank said that all businesses have positive momentum with strong growth in underlying drivers. “This is evident from pickup in net advances, which have grown by 26 per cent since the start of this year. This was a result of targeted strategy to build profitable, high quality and sustainable portfolios,” it added.
On the liabilities side, the bank’s total deposits grew by Rs40 billion, whereas current and saving accounts grew by Rs41 billion since the start of this year and comprise 93 per cent of deposit base.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country declined to $23.934 billion by the week ended October 22, 2021, as compared with $24.327 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank fell by $345 million to $17.147 billion by the week ended October 22, 2021 as compared with $17.492 billion by the week ended October 15, 2021.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks have also come down by $48 million to $6.787 billion by the week ended October 22, 2021, as compared with $6.835 billion a week ago.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will give cash rewards to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for recovery and confiscation of smuggled or non-duty paid goods under Customs laws.
According to the draft amendment, the FBR proposed to include in reward rules the “officers and officials of other law enforcement agencies who assist Customs officers and officials or are actually instrumental in the seizure of smuggled goods and vehicles as confirmed by the respective collectorate of customs, for their meritorious conduct in such cases only after realization of part or whole of the duty and taxes involved in such cases.”
At present, the eligibility for reward stated that cash reward shall be sanctioned under the rules to the following categories of persons in cases involving evasion of duty and other taxes, and confiscation of goods, namely:
(a) officers and officials of Pakistan Customs Service for their contribution in such cases; and
(b) informer providing credible information leading to such confiscation or detection, as the case may be.
As per SRO 1386(I)/2012 dated November 26, 2021, the determination of reward has been explained as the amount of reward, in cases involving evasion of duty and other taxes, and confiscation of goods shall be determined in the following manner:
01. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is Rs500,000 or less, the amount of reward shall be 20 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes.
02. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is more than Rs500,000 but not more than Rs1,000,000, the amount of reward shall be Rs100,000 plus 10 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes in excess of Rs500,000.
03. Where the amount of customs duty and other taxes realized is over Rs1,000,000, the amount of reward shall be Rs150,000 plus 5 per cent of the customs duty and other taxes in excess of Rs1,000,000.
KARACHI: K-Electric Limited (KE), the power generating and supply company, on Thursday announced massive 161 per cent growth in net profit for quarter ended September 30, 2021, mainly surge in revenue in the shape of tariff adjustment.
The profit after tax of the KE grew by 161 per cent to Rs2.9 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared with Rs1.11 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The company announced Rs0.11 as earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter under review as compared with Rs0.04.
The revenue of KE exhibited sharp growth of 33 per cent to Rs114.14 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared with Rs85.55 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The sales of energy grew by 27 per cent to Rs86.92 billion for the quarter under review as compared with Rs68.40 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
In the head of tariff adjustment, the revenue of the company recorded 58.72 per cent increase to Rs27.22 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared with Rs17.15 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
Cost of sale grew by 36 per cent to Rs97.49 billion as against Rs71.68 billion.
Operating expenses of KE recorded a significant increase to Rs1.81 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared with Rs338 million in the same quarter of the last year.
