Category: Business

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) KFC Pakistan’s Mitao Bhook Foundation (MBF) and The Citizens Foundation (TCF) have come together to further the cause of education for the less privileged children in Pakistan. Under the partnership, KFC’s Mitao Bhook has made a donation towards the operational support of four TCF schools across Pakistan for the academic year 2022-23.

The agreement was signed on 3^rd of August at The Citizens Foundation (TCF) Head Office between team members from KFC Pakistan and TCF. The four campuses for which KFC’s Mitao Bhook has donated include KFC Pakistan Campus in Saifal Goth, Gadap West – Sindh, Super Gas Campus in Baseera, Muzaffargarh – KPK, Merck Campus I in Jail Road, Quetta – Balochistan, DCD Campus-III in Chak, Faisalabad – Punjab.

Raza Pirbhai, CEO of KFC Pakistan commented, “Today, we are very excited to renew our partnership with TCF. It is the first organisation that comes to our mind when we think of partnering with a credible institution. They are doing a fantastic job in providing education to the Pakistani community. Education is the most important tool for any nation that wants to change its future. I have seen the impact created through TCF first hand. There are so many great stories of TCF alumni who have made it to top universities. We are really humbled to partner with TCF.”

On this occasion, Syed Asaad Ayub Ahmad, CEO of The Citizens Foundation (TCF) remarked: “KFC has been a longstanding supporter of TCF. We deeply value this partnership that enables us to create greater impact together for the children of Pakistan. There is no doubt that education is an immensely powerful tool that can enable our children to create a better future for themselves, their families and their country. This partnership will help set up many children on that path.”

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan Solar Association has called upon the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to intervene for the Customs clearance of hundreds of containers containing solar equipment, which have been stuck for months at various ports across the country.

“A huge number of solar devices import containers are awaiting clearance while importers are facing heavy demurrage charges,” Pakistan Solar Association Chairman Rana Abbas said in a statement issued Thursday here. He said that it was the time to aggressively promote alternative and green energy sources, and it was unwise to discourage the traders dealing in solar energy equipment in Pakistan.

The containers containing solar equipment have been stuck for months at ports mainly awaiting approval from the State Bank of Pakistan.  Further, the govt has imposed restrictions on import of all items starting with 85 prefix in directory of H.S. codes while the current procedure requires that every time, import documents of solar equipment including solar panels and inverters must be submitted to the State Bank through bank’s Forex Portal.

Despite the passing of the several months, there is no response from the State Bank of Pakistan to approve the LCs while importers are unable to get released their goods from the Customs authorities. This is resulting in excessive demurrage and detention charges on a daily basis being suffered by the importers and traders, as their terrible financial losses would ultimately lead to their bankruptcy.

The World Bank in it recent study titled “Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) Integration and Planning Study” Bank has reiterated that Pakistan needs to urgently implement a major expansion of solar and wind (“variable renewable energy” or VRE) to achieve a share of at least 30% of total capacity by 2030. This would help lower the cost of power, achieve greater energy security and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Following an optimal scenario with a major scale-up of VRE would save Pakistan US$5 billion costs over the next 20 years, mainly from reduced fuel consumption.  

However, Pakistan Solar Association Chairman Rana Abbas said that such delays in the Customs clearance would do no good to the economy of the country, rather they would discourage the traders community who are committed to contribute to the revival of economic indicators of the country.

“At present, as the only alternative to the rising prices of petrol, electricity and gas; and, ever-increasing climatic deterioration and pollution, renewable energy sources like solar and wind power plants are the need of the hour to overcome the energy crises in the country,” he said, adding that traders community unanimously urges Prime Minister to intervene into the matter.

A large and sustained expansion of solar photovoltaic and wind power, alongside hydropower and substantial investments in the grid, is both achievable and desirable. Such an initiative would lead to immediate and long-term economic and environmental benefits. It would also enhance security of supply as well as positioning Pakistan at the forefront of the global energy transition.

Lucky Cement announces highest ever consolidated earnings of PKR 36.42 billion for the year ended June 30, 2022

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement Limited, once again, reported its highest ever profit after tax of PKR 36.42 billion for the year ended June 30, 2022, of which PKR 6.93 billion is attributable to the non-controlling interests. This translates into earnings per share (EPS) of PKR 91.22 / share as compared to PKR 70.69 / share reported last year.

On a consolidated basis, the Company achieved 60% higher net turnover of PKR 331.5 billion as compared to last year’s turnover of PKR 207.2 billion. The consolidated Net Profit of the Company remained PKR 36.4 billion out of which PKR 29.5 billion was attributable to the owners of the holding company, compared to PKR 28.2 billion and PKR 22.9 billion, respectively for the prior year.  This translates into an EPS of PKR 91.22 during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 as compared to PKR 70.69 during last year, representing a growth of 29%. The exceptional growth in revenue, despite economic challenges is owing to robust performance across all businesses of the group and is an affirmation of the successful execution of the Group’s diversification strategy.

On a standalone basis the Company’s overall sales volumes declined by 8.9% to reach 9.1 million tons during the year ended June 30, 2022 in comparison to 10 million tons last year. Local sales volume dropped by 3.6% to reach 7.3 million tons in the current year compared to 7.6 million tons last year. While the export sales volume declined substantially by 25% to 1.8 million tons during the year compared to 2.4 million tons during last year due to non-viability in terms of pricing on the back of persistent high coal prices in the international market coupled with increased shipping freights. Despite the reduction in volumes in both domestic and export sales, the profitability of the local cement operations improved marginally because of enhanced operational efficiencies, including better management of sales and distribution costs, which decreased as a percentage of sales.

The Company achieved a major milestone when its wholly owned subsidiary, Lucky Electric Power Company Limited (LEPCL), achieved the Commercial Operations Date (COD) on March 21, 2022 of the 660 MW coal-fired power plant set up at Port Bin Qasim, Karachi. This milestone will play a key role in increasing the energy security and prosperity of Pakistan. It will also go on to reduce the cost of electricity and reliance on imported fuel in the long run after the completion of Phase III of SECMC in June 2023. The power generated from the plant is being fed into the national grid in line with a power purchase agreement signed with the Government. In another major development, the Company’s subsidiary, Lucky Motor Corporation started assembling Samsung mobile phones in Pakistan in December, 2021.

Lucky Cement remains committed towards making a real contribution to the society and the communities in which it operates. The Company extended its merit-based support to deserving and less privileged students in Pakistan and abroad. The Company also continued to donate generously towards health-based initiatives by supporting various welfare organizations. In support of the UN Sustainability Development Goals, the Company has initiated and promoted various sustainable projects to support the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda.

Regarding the future outlook, the Company has reported that it expects fiscal year 2023 to be challenging for Pakistan’s economy, especially due to the high Current Account Deficit, which stood at $17.4 Billion for FY 2022 versus $2.8 Billion for FY 2021. The ongoing political instability has deteriorated the economic position of the Country and resumption of foreign exchange inflows from the IMF program has faced serious delays. The IMF staff level agreement has now been signed and as per Government statements majority of conditions have been met and it expects the program to resume post approval from the IMF Board towards end of August 2022. The resumption of the IMF program will not only reduce uncertainty but also open avenues for borrowing from other sources, which could help stabilize the foreign reserves and the domestic economic situation. Apart from this, certainty in the political landscape of the Country is needed so that long term and sustainable measures are taken for enhancing the exports and ultimately reducing the current account deficit of Pakistan.

The commodity super cycle, which started last year post-pandemic, continues to persist. This has been further aggravated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict resulting in continuous volatility in commodity prices particularly coal, petroleum products and packaging material, which has significantly increased the cost of production for cement. A similar trend has been witnessed in other construction materials as well, mainly steel which has resulted in a hike in overall construction costs. On the local front, rising interest rates coupled with higher inflation have severely affected the purchasing power which will impact the cement demand in the short term.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Executive Director Commercial for Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA), Mr. Mohammed Omer and other worthy officials of higher management of LCBDDA, attended a discussion session on Investment Policy Pakistan 2022. LCBDDA also known as Central Business District (CBD Punjab) has always taken the lead by participating in activities to attract more and more investments to Punjab. The consultation session was organized by the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) in collaboration with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The session was conducted by Secretary Industries Commerce Investment and Skill Development Department (ICI&SDD), Dr. Ahmed Javed Qazi and was attended by industry thought leaders, members of the business community, stakeholders and dignified government officials. While addressing the session Secretary ICI&SDD. Dr. Ahmed Javed Qazi said that “To utilize the investment opportunities in Punjab a better investment policy is essential. The government aims to gain the trust of the investors and wants to gather all the stakeholders from the public and private sector on the same page”. Executive Director Commercial LCBDDA, Mohammed Omer while expressing his thoughts about the session said that “The province of Punjab has always been a center of interest for domestic and international investors because of its geographical significance, skilled workforce and fertile land. Such gathering of the industry thought leaders is a healthy practice for generating new ideas and clearing many ambiguities regarding investment policy. To facilitate the domestic and international investors we have suggested a separate mechanism for the repatriation of funds”. He further added that we have to work on factors of business ease to boost economic activities in the region. To attract foreign investors first, we have to focus on our local investors. The province of Punjab has great investment potential by developing a comprehensive investment policy, this potential can be materialized to secure maximum investments. The participants of the session also gave their valuable suggestions for the development of an inclusive investment policy, which will help to highlight the investment potential opportunities in Punjab. The session was concluded on the note that new special economic zones should be created to attract more investments. The federal and Punjab government should take initiatives on bilateral terms to boost economic activities in the region. A brief uniform investment policy will not only help in revenue generation for Punjab but will be beneficial for grabbing share in global markets.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The National Incubation Center (NIC) Pakistan’s first of its kind and largest Incubation center, is hosting yet another exciting FinTech Hackathon in collaboration with Allied Bank (ABL) , one of the largest banks in Pakistan. If you are a coder, UI/ UX Expert or a problem-solver with a passion for FinTech, here’s your chance to get a shot at PKR 1 million in prize money.

Hackathons are a great way to mobilize the community to find solutions to existing micro and macro-economic problems prevalent in the country. The NIC has teamed up with various organizations in to focus on some key economic areas of interest. This time we are joining hands once again with Allied Bank, to revolutionize the fintech sector of Pakistan.

Allied Bank is one of the largest banks in Pakistan with an extensive customer base of over 5 million, an outreach of 1425 branches and 1570 ATMs whilst operating in corporate, commercial, retail and consumer banking services. The Bank is persistently investing in technological solutions for providing digital financial services to all customer segments.

“Allied Bank has always been on the forefront of Innovation, and this FinTech Hackathon is another step in the same direction, bringing Pakistan’s brightest minds together to overcome the current challenges in the digital financial industry. Hence, collaborative efforts are required in providing solutions for financial inclusion and empowering the SME, Retail and Consumer segments.” – Aizid Razzaq Gill, CEO Allied Bank.

The purpose of this event is to find practical innovative ideas, prototypes, and solutions to challenges in the Fin-Tech space. Through this hackathon, the NIC and ABL aim to find disruptive ideas that can transform Fin-tech, not just in Pakistan, but across the globe.

“It fills my heart with pride to see stakeholders in various capacities joining hands with the National Incubation Center in its humble attempt to encourage innovation and build disruptive solutions. Indeed, collaboration is the way forward and the success of events like this prove the power of partnerships in building the ecosystem.”  Pervaz Abbasi, Director NIC.

A key factor behind the growth of the fintech market is the large investment of banks and businesses in technology-based solutions. In addition, infrastructure-based technologies and APIs are reshaping the future of the financial services industry and supporting the growth of the global fintech market. Specifically, in Pakistan, digital financial potential is about $ 36 billion by 2025, boosting GDP by 7%, creating 4 million new jobs, and bringing in $ 263 billion in new deposits. This will create a need for young innovators to bring in solutions that will revolutionize space and lead to mass adoption of digital financial services.

The following thematic areas have been identified to find solutions in the Fin-Tech space for the upcoming hackathon:

1. Innovation in Fintech Banking
2. Financial Inclusion and Literacy
3. SME & Startup Banking

The top 3 winners will get cash prizes, and an opportunity to connect with relevant stakeholders required to practically implement their ideas including investors, financial institutions & mentors/domain experts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meezan Bank and Arif Habib Group Enter into a Strategic Partnership for Apartment Development under Musharakah Mode

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Arif Habib Group (AHG), and Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) have entered into a strategic partnership to jointly develop and sell apartment towers at Naya Nazimabad. This collaboration will allow customers to opt for the Shariah Compliant Home financing services offered by MBL.

MBL has entered into a Musharakah Agreement with Globe Residency REIT(GRR), for development of 3 Apartment Towers consisting of 408 apartments of 2 Bedrooms. Construction of Towers is already underway, and their grey structure is expected to be ready in eighteen months.

GRR is being managed by Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited and Arif Habib Real Estate Development Company is the Development Advisor. In total GRR is constructing nine towers, which were launched in November 2021 and will be ready for possession within 3 years. 642 apartments have already been booked by general public out of 836 offered in November 2021. REIT units will also be listed on PSX, soon offering them to general public for investment.

Under the mortgage finance facility customers will be able to make payments over 20 years, similar to making monthly rental payments. The process is open and transparent, making real estate more accessible to middle class customers.

MBL is participating for 50% share in 3 Towers out of 9 towers being developed by GRR through the Musharakha Arrangement. Both MBL and GRR shall contribute 50% each for the cost of construction of these apartments. All regulatory approvals from SECP and SBCA are in place. Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) is the trustee and A.F. Ferguson (PWC) are Auditors of GRR.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Arif ul Islam, Deputy CEO, MBL, Mr. Badiuddin Akber, CEO, CDC, Mr. Samad Habib, CEO, Javedan Corporation Limited (JCL),  and Mr. Muhammad Ejaz, CEO, Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited. Also present on the occasion were Mr. Arif Habib, Chairman, JCL and Mr. Muhammad Irfan Siddiqui, President and CEO, Meezan Bank Limited. MBL.

Mr. Muhammad Irfan Siddiqui, President and CEO, Meezan Bank speaking at the occasion said, “Meezan Bank strives to offer its qualified customers Shariah-compliant banking solutions and services. Many of our customers wish to own their homes and we are pleased to be able to provide them Islamic Mortgage mode of financing for Apartments at Naya Nazimabad that will offer a convenient, affordable and Shariah compliant way to obtain a home of their dreams.”

Mr. Arif Habib, Chairman, JCL commented, “Naya Nazimabad works relentlessly to offer quality lifestyle to its residents. This is a landmark real estate transaction opening the doors of housing development in Pakistan for the middle-class population through Mortgage Financing mode between an Islamic Bank and a REIT scheme. It is hoped that many more such transactions will take place between banks and REITs to facilitate the general public. We are pleased to partner with Meezan Bank to provide home financing product exclusively designed for Apartments at Naya Nazimabad. Making our housing project accessible to the wider community is a significant part of our vision and we believe Meezan Bank will be a key partner in helping us realise this goal.”

Naya Nazimabad is an integrated housing scheme, which focuses on healthy community living. It is the largest master-planned, gated residential development in Karachi and will house more than 50,000 families upon its completion. It has the provision for all essential amenities for today’s living, within walking distance for its residents. A project of Javedan Corporation Limited, Naya Nazimabad is a self-contained city, conceptualized and developed with the vision of providing a peaceful community atmosphere and a healthy lifestyle.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Stressing the need and importance of family planning towards achieving national goals and country’s development, Experts lauded the role of Provincial Minister of Health and Population Welfare (Sindh), Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and Secretary Health Sindh, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, for their continuous efforts towards putting the agenda of family planning at the forefront and introducing reproductive health bill.

These thoughts were expressed in FP (Family Planning) 2030 meeting, held in commemoration of World Population Day. Participants of the meeting highlighted the impact of high population growth rate on its socio-economic development and emphasized its linkages with rising poverty and disparity, to climate change, high urbanization and urban migration, all restraining investment in human development and improving lives of people. Pakistan has made its FP2030 Commitments in line with its national goals agreed under the CCI Recommendations and the targets set for the National Action Plan.

Technical Advisor and Focal Person FP 2030, Dr Talib Lashari highlighted key reforms made under the FP2030 working group such as functional integration between Department of Health and Population Welfare Department. He added that significant progress has been observed in the areas of staff capacity building, youth engagement, legislative reforms and Life skills-based Education. Dr Lashari also shared the implementation progress of self-injectable DMPA-SC (Sayana Press) in Sindh and noted that CIP is moving to initiate self-injection by clients.  

Speaking at the event, Country Advisor Gates Foundation, Dr Yasmin Qazi shared the historical perspective on family planning in Pakistan and stressed that we need to work collaboratively to address the gaps and fulfill the unmet needs of couples who want access to family planning support. For this we need to ensure steady supply of contraceptive commodities supplemented by behavior change engagement and counselling.

Country Director Jhpiego, Dr Fauzia Assad said that an integrated multisectoral approach is imperative for expansion of family planning choices by scaling up self-injection contraceptives. She added that we need to continue to innovate by inclusion of concepts such a self-care in Family Planning and in particular focus upon engaging men in the ongoing discourse of Family Planning.

President Szabist University, Ms. Shehnaz Wazir Ali remarked that joint planning is critical for creating cohesion amongst FP2030 partners and assured galvanizing academia support for partners. Ms. Wazir also appreciated CIP for being acknowledged as global best practice model out of 43 countries.

UNFPA representative, Ms Renuka Swami cautioned that with the world population reaching 8 billion it underscores the need for moving from number towards making informed choices. She suggested to engaging young people in the discourse of family planning.

Dr Mohiuddin, RIZ consulting said that one of the core indicators under FP2030 is increasing the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) and for that it is imperative to scale-up new modern contraceptive such as self-injectable Sayanna Press.    

Program Officer FP BMG, Linnea Eitmann stated that she is invigorated by the joint partnership and the leadership of Honorable Minister Dr Azra and CIP and commended how Pakistan is inclined towards gender transformative approaches and based on the enthusiasm towards change working Pakistan will be a priority. She also informed the participants regarding Gates foundation three core components i.e. expanding method choice, developing new and improved contraceptive methods and lastly increasing access to each method.

The meeting concluded with the FP2030 partners reaffirming their support for the unified goal for working collaboratively for balanced population management and resultantly as stronger prosperous Pakistan.

Engro and Excelerate Energy Sign MoU to Develop Private RLNG Sector in Pakistan

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Engro Eximp FZE, a subsidiary of Engro Corporation, announced today that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EE) (Excelerate), a leading provider of flexible LNG infrastructure solutions around the world, related to the development of a private sector gas marketing business in Pakistan.

Under this MOU, both partners will jointly evaluate the possibility of establishing a regasified LNG (RLNG) marketing business with maximum participation from the country’s private sector. This initiative has the potential to increase private company participation in Pakistan’s LNG sector and enhance Pakistan’s energy security by opening up new RLNG supply avenues for businesses and consumers. This endeavor comes at a point when the need for energy security has become a critical issue globally, and particularly for Pakistan, against the backdrop of current geopolitical dynamics.

Ghias Khan, President & CEO – Engro Corporation stated, “I am delighted that Engro’s collaboration with Excelerate Energy has been strengthened through this agreement, which will help Pakistan meet its energy needs. As a pioneer in Pakistan’s LNG sector, we understand the importance of enhancing energy security; an imperative for Pakistan to ensure economic growth while providing consumers access to adequate, reliable, and affordable supplies of energy.”

“We value our collaboration with Engro and take great pride in having partnered with them to build Pakistan’s first LNG import terminal in 2015,” said Mr. Steven Kobos, President & Chief Executive Officer of Excelerate. “This agreement builds on the momentum we have established by extending our reach downstream of our existing terminal to key regasified LNG markets in Pakistan. We remain committed to meeting Pakistan’s growing energy security needs and look forward to expanding our collaboration with Engro in this pivotal market.”

Since 2015, Engro and Excelerate together have played a key role in strengthening energy security of Pakistan through continuous operations of Pakistan’s first LNG import terminal which utilizes a floating storage and reclassification unit provided under a long-term charter by Excelerate. The terminal currently fulfills as much as 15 percent of Pakistan’s natural gas requirements and is recognized as the most utilized FSRU worldwide.

 

Company also named the most Consistent Quality Network in Pakistan by the independent analyst.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Pakistani telecom company, Ufone 4G has been recognized as the superior 4G services provider in Pakistan by Opensignal, a leading global analytics company specializing in quantifying the users’ mobile network experience. Ufone 4G outdid other operators in several indicators of the ‘Overall Experience’ under the 4G subset as per the global analyst’s insight’s report ‘Pakistan Mobile Network Experience Report August 2022’, which also names the company as the most Consistent Quality Network in Pakistan.

The independent analytics come as an endorsement of Ufone 4G’s highest standards in 4G service delivery. The company outdid competition with a significant margin in the most indicators of ‘Overall Experience’ in the 4G subset. It stayed the outright winner in 4G Video Experience and joint winner in Overall Video Experience, which quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator’s networks. The network also topped the 4G Download and Upload markers with significant margins against other players. It also emerged as the joint winner of 4G Voice App Experience.

As the most Consistent Quality Network, Ufone topped the ‘Excellent Consistent Quality’ and ‘Core Consistent Quality’ categories. As per Opensignal, Consistent Quality measure how often the experience of users on a network was sufficient to support the requirements of common applications by quantifying download and upload speeds, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to the first byte, and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.

Ufone 4G acquired 1800Mhz spectrum in 2021 and it continues to expand its 4G services in Pakistan to provide an unrivaled telecom experience to its customers. The transformation went on to raise the bar in terms of service delivery and redefined quality connectivity through its world-class voice and data services. The measures helped Ufone 4G to pull off the fastest customer acquisition in the industry during 2022. Owing to the continued modernization and up-gradation of its network, Ufone 4G went on to register as ‘Pakistan’s No 01 Voice and Data Network’ on Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA)’s Mobile Networks Benchmark Report 2022.

Ufone 4G continues to invest and innovate in order to align its network with the highest global standards while it also focuses on expanding it to bring its services to increased users, especially across the far-flung and hitherto unconnected regions of the country. The company’s continued endeavor to deliver top-notch telecom services to its customers in order to improve their experience mirrors the centrality of customers in its business philosophy as is reflected in its cherished slogan: ‘Tum Hi To Ho!’