Muhammad Sarfraz Abbasi

Friday, 2 Nov 2012 2:07 am    Strong cement sector essential for stock market uptrend News Comments (0) Shahab Jafry Thursday, 18 Oct 2012 8:29 am | Comments (0) Maintaining cement sector strength has become necessary for sustaining the uptrend in the equity market, especially as low growth and erratic input costs cramp the real economy, according to analysts and investors associated with the industry. After oil and gas, cement is the second biggest trading cluster at the KSE, and its strong showing in the last fiscal was central to the Index’s strength in H2-FY12. Mounting political and security threats, coupled with chronically low GDP growth, has left the bourse as the only platform still attracting meaningful foreign investment, something Is...

Pak Suzuki posts almost double profits By Our Correspondent Published: October 26, 2012 PSMC posted a loss of Rs193 million in the period, against analyst expectations of a profit.  KARACHI:  Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) has announced almost double profits for the 9MCY12 period, as compared to the same period last year, in its financial result announcement on Thursday. The company’s net profit has swelled to Rs1.17 billion in 9MCY12, as compared to Rs672 million in 9MCY11. Strong growth in the company’s net sales were the primary driver behind growth, which boomed 24% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs47.90 billion on the back of higher prices and number of units sold. “Exceptional volumes (up by 17% YoY) coupled with continuous price increases (of almost 7%) helped to keep the gross margins up by 90 basis points to 4.6% in the period under review,” said analyst Zoya Ahmed, who works with BMA ...

Corporate results: Lucky Cement profits jump half a billion By Raheel Ahmed   Published: October 26, 2012 Gross profit registered a massive rise of Rs33% to Rs3.87 billion. KARACHI:  Lucky Cement profits solidified at Rs2 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012-13, up 34% from Rs1.5 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. The robust growth in profitability primarily stems from a billion rupees rise in revenues, improving gross margins and retention prices, austerity measures of the company to cut costs, lower coal prices plus savings from energy efficient measures, said BMA Capital Analyst Affan Ismail. Revenues climbed 18% to touch Rs2 billion in the period under review. Better cement prices in the local market, up 11% from a year earlier, coupled with improvement in local dispatches remained the major driving force behind considerable increase in the top-line, says a BMA Capital rese...

  Monthly car sales climb 4.3% By Raheel Ahmed Published: September 12, 2012 “The used cars are challenging the local automakers in both price and quality and continue to attract customers. PHOT:FILE  KARACHI:  Locally assembled car sales jumped 4.3% in August 2012 to 9,319 units, recovering from July’s slump of 8,937 units, according to the data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufactures Association. The local automobile Industry has been witnessing its own recession mainly due to the conclusion of the Punjab government’s yellow cab scheme. The government had allocated Rs4.5 billion in fiscal 2012 for the provision of 20,000 yellow cabs to the youth of the province. The used cars are challenging the local automakers in both price and quality and continue to attract customers’ attention hurting local sales, according to Zoya Ahmed, analyst at BMA Capital. The share of imported cars increased phenomenally as more than...

Corporate results: DG Khan Cement profits jump twentyfold By Raheel Ahmed Published: September 11, 2012 Revenues for company surged 24% to Rs22.95 billion in fiscal 2012, against sales of Rs18.58 billion in corresponding period of previous year.  KARACHI:  Bouncing back from a torrid patch, DG Khan Cement’s profits for fiscal 2012 jumped from the millions, to billions – back in familiar territory. The company’s full-year results for fiscal 2012 clocked in better than market expectations, but analysts say the hefty gains may, in part, be attributable to a one-off tax reversal – which generally arises when tax relief is provided in advance of an expense. Other factors that improved the cement maker’s earnings were higher sales, improved gross margins, huge ‘other income’ and lower financial charges, said Sarfraz A...

Ringing alarm bells: Public-sector banks lead the pack in risky lending By Kazim Alam Published: August 30, 2012 According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), net NPLs of public-sector banks stood at Rs98.2 billion as of June 30, 2012; up from Rs73.5 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2012 – a quarter-on-quarter rise of 33.6%. PHOTO: FILE  KARACHI:  The share of net non-performing loans (NPLs) in loans extended by all banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) has increased from 5.7% in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, to 6.1% in the fourth quarter. The public-sector banks segment is the largest contributor to the quarterly rise in net NPLs. NPLs usually refer to loans that are in default, or are close to a default. The term ‘net NPLs’, on the other hand, pertains to those loans against which banks have yet to make provisions for credit losses. In most...

Corporate results: Engro Corporation incurs loss of Rs135m By Our Correspondent Published: August 17, 2012 The new plant of Engro Fertilizers, the largest profit making subsidiary in 2011, operated for only 33 days due to gas shortage in the first six months of 2012. PHOTO: engrofertilizers.com  KARACHI:  The country’s largest conglomerate Engro Corporation reported a loss of Rs135 million in January to June 2012 following its largest subsidiary finding it hard to operate due to gas shortage. The new plant of Engro Fertilizers, the largest profit making subsidiary in 2011, operated for only 33 days due to gas shortage in the first six months of 2012. This, together with rising financial charges, pushed the company into losses for the second consecutive quarter. The manufacturer’s most recent balance sheet shows short-term borrowings in excess of Rs5.6 billion compared with negligib...

Lucky Cement profits and foreign projects double By  Our Correspondent Published: April 27, 2012 Manufacturer plans to buy a 13.8% equity stake in Yunus Energy Limited for $4 million. The company plans to set up 50MW wind farm in Jhimpir, Thatta. KARACHI:  Lucky Cement has managed to increase its profit by 90% to Rs4.69 billion in the current financial year despite production levels staying at the same levels as last year. The astounding boost was solely driven by selling prices which surged 25% to Rs425 per bag against Rs339 per bag in the same period last year, said Summit Capital analyst Sarfraz Abbasi. Lucky Cement even outpaced its fellow peers when it came to increasing prices, said another analyst who requested anonymity. The massive increase has been beneficial for the industry, however, it has sparked a debate among builders who question the legitimacy behind the hikes. Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan on Th...

  Corporate results: DG Khan Cement profit jumps tenfold By Faseeh Mangi Published: April 19, 2012 The country’s second largest cement manufacturer net profit swelled 1070% to Rs2.07 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 201 2.   KARACHI:  Coming from a torrid patch, DG Khan Cement profits jumped more than ten times to a much more familiar territory in financial year 2012 on the back of higher prices. Higher prices single-handedly pushed up the numbers as production levels stayed almost the same, said Summit Capital analyst Sarfraz Abbasi. The country’s second largest cement manufacturer net profit swelled 1070% to Rs2.07 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2012 against Rs177 million posted in the same period last year, according to unconsolidated results sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The entire industry witnessed a bad run in financial year 2010 an...

KARACHI, April 18: The DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC) announced profit of Rs2.07 billion for the nine months of financial year 2012 (9MFY12), translating into earning per share (eps) at Rs4.73.  The results overwhelmed the comparable profit at Rs177 million or eps of Re0.40 in the same time last year, as the growth was 12 times. Analyst Sarfraz Abbasi at Summit Capital observed that the huge growth in earnings was driven by higher retention prices which were seen to have increased by 25pc YoY.  Resultantly, top line of the company increased by 28pc YoY to Rs16.70bn as against the monetary sales of Rs13.08bn in the corresponding period last year. Gross profit rose 87 per cent to Rs5.51bn (gross margin at 33pc) in comparison of Rs2.95bn (gross margins of 23pc) in 9MFY11.  Other income was high mainly because of strong stream of dividend income which the company received from its associates. The decline in financial charges by 16pc YoY to Rs1.30bn i...

  Corporate results: Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim hit bad by gas shortfall By Faseeh Mangi Published: April 18, 2012 Fertiliser manufacturer fails to declare a dividend for the first time in almost three years. KARACHI:    The cracks caused by the massive gas shortfall in the country have finally started to show, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim witnessed its worst quarter in more than three years during January to March 2011. FFBL, one of the country’s largest fertiliser manufacturers, posted a net loss of Rs387 million due to decreased production in the past three months compared with a profit Rs1.6 billion in the same period last year. The company’s plant failed to produce a single bag of urea – the highest selling fertiliser – in January and February on the back of winter gas shutdown, latest data of National Fertiliser Development Centre shows. Production of fertiliser di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) also stood at a stan...

  Thursday, 12 Apr 2012    Auto sales witness 15 percent growth April 12, 2012 RECORDER REPORT The auto sales in the nine-month period of FY12 increased to 128,217 units witnessing a healthy growth of 15 percent on year-on-year basis against the sales of 111,269 units in the corresponding period last year. Similarly on monthly basis, the auto sales grew by 12 percent to 16,665 units in March 2012 against 14,940 units sold in the previous month. "Overall sales were higher because of the low-based effect while upsurge in the sales on monthly basis can be attributed to prompt deliveries by PSMC to the government of Punjab," Sarfraz Abbasi, senior analyst at Summit Capital said. According to Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association's (PAMA) data, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMC) witnessed a 32 percent growth to 81,360 units in the nine-month period as against the sales of 61,693 units in the same period last year.Hig...

Car sales continue to ride smooth Published: April 12, 2012 Civic production stood at 1,140 units while City’s still stood at a standstill. KARACHI:  Car sales continued to ride on the smooth lane as sales increased 7% in March with the lower segment leading the way and Honda making its way back in the market after three months. Sales stood at 14,469 in March against 13,579 units sold in the same period of the preceding year, according to data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association. The country’s largest car assembler Pak Suzuki witnessed growth of 16% on a yearly basis amid demand for all models swelling. Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Bolan posted growth of 34% and 48% respectively, primarily because of timely deliveries to Punjab on account of its yellow cab scheme, said Summit Capital analyst Sarfraz Abbasi. The provin...

Wednesday, 11 Apr 2012 6:48 pm   Is the bid in cement sustainable? News Comments (0) Shahab Jafry 18 hrs ago | Comments (0) SITUATIONER -  The cement sector’s recent bull run is an interesting extension of the market’s current behavior – stellar uptrend decoupled from the real economy. It outperformed the wider market by approximately 30 per cent, even as 8M-’12 y-o-y growth in total dispatch was an unimpressive 3.5 per cent (exports actually dropped 5.6pc!). Yet the sector posted healthy gains, mainly because leading companies employed cost-cutting measures just in time to leverage higher retention prices in both local and international markets.   EXOGENOUS FACTORS, DEMOGRAPHICS: Of course, it helped that the international price of coal – the main cost driver – fell 22 per cent (y-o-y) as weakening global growth dimm...