Category: Business

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Interbrand, a New York-based management consulting company, on Thursday (October 21) announced its best global brands ranking for 2021. iPhone maker Apple, valued at $408,251 billion, retained the top spot in the ranking for the ninth consecutive year, while electric vehicle maker Tesla, was the highest gainer in the list with 184% jump in its brand value to $36,270 million. 

Despite this jump in brand value Tesla failed to occupy a spot in the top 10. Tesla’s ranking jumped to 14th place, up 24 places from 42nd last year. E-commerce giant Amazon occupied the second spot in the list with a brand value of $249,249 million. While Apple’s brand value jumped by 26% year-on-year, Amazon’s brand value increased by 24%. 

Microsoft, which occupied the third spot in the list, witnessed 27% jump in its brand value at $210,191 million. Google and Samsung occupied the fourth and fifth spot in the list respectively with brand values of $196,811 million and $74,635 million respectively. Coca-Cola #6 ($57,488 million), Toyota #7 ($54,107 million), Mercedes-Benz #8 ($50,866 million), McDonald’s #9 ($45,865 million) and Disney #10 ($44,183 million) were the other brands, that occupied a spot in the top 10.

Sephora, ranked 100th, is the only new entrant to the rankings this year, but its addition makes LVMH Group the biggest group entity in the table. LVMH group is the first to have five brands in the Best Global Brands table – Sephora, Louis Vuitton (13), Dior (77), Tiffany & Co. (92) and Hennessy (95).

The combined value of the top 100 brands increased from $2,326,491 million in 2020 to $2,667,524 million in 2021 – a jump of nearly 15%. The average brand value increase in 2021 is 10%, significantly larger than the 1.3% in 2020, owed largely to the economic disruption caused by Covid-19. Technology is the fastest growing sector, with an average brand value change of 23% year-on-year. It is also the most valuable sector by average brand value, followed by beverages and sporting goods.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Xiaomi Corp Chief Executive Lei Jun said the Chinese smartphone maker will mass produce its own cars in the first half of 2024, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The comments, which were made at a investor event, were first reported by local media and later confirmed by the company. Zang Ziyuan, a director in Xiaomi’s international marketing department, also posted the news on his verified Weibo account.

The date marks the next major target for the company’s fledgling electric vehicle (EV) division, which Xiaomi formally announced earlier this year.  Xiaomi shares jumped 5.4% to HK$22.50, the biggest daily percentage rise since May 12, extending gains for the third straight session.

In March, Xiaomi said it would commit to investing $10 billion in a new electric car division over the next ten years. The company completed the business registration of its EV unit in late August. [L4N2Q310P]. The company has ramped up hiring for the unit, though it has yet to reveal if it will produce the car independently or via partnership with an existing carmaker.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The US dollar continued to soar against the Pakistani rupee, reaching a new historic high during intra-day trading in the inter-bank market on Monday.

The Pakistani rupee continued to weaken, shedding an additional 82 paisas against the US dollar, which was being traded at Rs173 in the during intra-day trading in the inter-bank market.

Last week, speaking at the launch of the Kisan Portal, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that the pressure on the Pakistani rupee is temporary and will be over soon.

Economists say that the main reason for the rise in the value of the dollar and the depreciation of the rupee is Pakistan’s current account deficit and IMF’s demand for further devaluation of the rupee.

Analysts had earlier predicted that the downtrend is expected to end soon as analysts suggest that the successful conclusion of the discussion between the IMF and Pakistan to resume a $6 billion loan programme will stabilise the rupee value at around current levels.

“The rupee volatility will end if policy talks between Pakistan and the IMF conclude successfully during the three days from October 13 to 15,” Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company Head of Research, Samiullah Tariq, had told Geo.tv.

However, in case the two sides fail to find a middle ground and talks end on an unsuccessful note, the rupee may cross several limits on the downside.

Meanwhile, sources have said that that Prime Minister Imran Khan is having a meeting on inflation and the economic situation in the country.

According to the sources, the premier is expected to make an important announcement regarding public relief in this meeting.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is all set to make a newly acquired trading platform — which has been bought from Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) — fully operational this month, PSX chief executive Farrukh H Khan told .

The SZSE — the third-largest stock market in the world in terms of trading value — holds a 40% stake in the PSX and is one of China’s three stock exchanges. Pakistan had signed a $5 million contract in November 2019 with SZSE to acquire the trading and surveillance system to improve its operational and technological level.

According to details, the CEO said that the launch is expected within the month of October. Initially, it was scheduled to be introduced in March but there were certain requirements that “our stakeholders had requested to accommodate in the trading system which now has been implemented”, he said.

The new trading system will make trading at PSX more transparent and attractive, bringing the stock market on par with international stock exchanges.

“The system will vastly improve the capabilities of our trading and abilities to introduce new products like options,” Khan said.

“We will have a proper surveillance system and the robustness of the much better system.”

While speaking to the international publication, the CEO said that the downgrading by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) of the Pakistan Indexes was because of the size of the market capitalisation which has declined.

It is pertinent to mention here that in September the MSCI reclassified the MSCI Pakistan Indexes from its Emerging Market Index (EMI) to Frontier Markets Index (FMI).

In 2017, the benchmark KSE-100 had surpassed the 53,000-point mark with market capitalisation worth $100 billion. However, market capitalisation has dropped over the years to $45 billion including a 17% decline in the last four months.

Khan said: “Rising oil prices, which doubled in recent days, Afghanistan’s situation, interest rate hike and rupee remained under pressure and MSCI reclassification generally has created negative impacts in the equity market.”

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The license signing ceremony for Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Batistan was held here today. Three Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs); CMPak (Zong), Telenor Pakistan and PTML (Ufone) have been issued new licenses for the spectrum secured in the recent auction process.

The event was attended by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur; Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan, Muhammad Khalid Khurshid; Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunication Dr Suhail Rajput, Chairman PTA, Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa Retd.,  Members of the Authority, Special Assistant to Prime Minister AJ&K for Information Technology, Secretary Kashmir and GB Affairs, Executive Director, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) and senior management of mobile companies.

On the occasion, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB appreciated the efforts of PTA for the successful completion of the spectrum auction process. He congratulated the winning mobile operators and said that through NGMS, digital divide will be reduced and tourism will flourish further in the regions.

Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan congratulated the mobile operators on award of NGMS licenses and hoped that this will open up a new era of modern telecom services for the people of AJ&K and GB.

At the event, Federal Secretary for IT & T, Dr. Suhail Rajput said that the Ministry of IT&T is committed to enhance connectivity and improve digital infrastructure in the country.

Chairman PTA said that PTA is working to ensure that Pakistanis have access to high quality services and benefit from ubiquitous coverage. Continuous efforts are being made to spread state of the art telecommunication services to far flung areas enabling access to a multitude of opportunities for businesses, education and health.

The award of licenses for NGMS in the two regions will contribute towards strengthening uninterrupted provision of better telecom services to the people of AJ&K and GB in line with the GOP vision of a Digital Pakistan.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

The United States (US) dollar continued its surge against the Pakistani rupee in the inter-bank currency market on Thursday. According to forex dealers, the greenback appreciated 4 paisas against the local unit, touching another record high at Rs171.

The US dollar has appreciated Rs18.72 against the rupee in the interbank market over the past five months as it stood at Rs152.28 as of May 7, 2021.

On Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) introduced regulatory measures to enhance transparency in the foreign currency transactions by exchange companies and to curb undesirable outflow of cash foreign currency.

According to guidelines shared by the SBP, persons travelling to Afghanistan will be allowed to carry only US$1,000 per person per visit with a maximum annual limit of US$6,000.

Exchange companies will be required to conduct biometric verification for all foreign currency sale transactions equivalent to US$500 and above and outward remittances and it would be applicable with effect from October 22.

The SBP further directed that exchange companies will sell the cash foreign currency and make outward remittances, equivalent to US$10,000 and above, against receipt of funds through cheque or banking channels only.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Newly-listed smartphone assembler and distributor Air Link Communication Limited announced that it will incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary ‘Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited that would manufacture mobile devices of ‘selected brands.’

Air Link Communication Limited, in its filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, informed that its “board of directors has decided to incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Link Communication Limited in the name and style, ‘Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited”.

The company added that it would be making an investment of Rs500 million at Rs10 per share for the purpose.

“The primary objective of this wholly-owned subsidiary would be to take on additional mobile device manufacturing of certain selected brand(s),” read the statement.

“The authorized share capital of the company be and is hereby increased from Rs4,000,000,000 divided into 400,000,000 shares of Rs10 each to Rs6,000,000,000 divided into 600,000,000 shares of Rs10 each ranking pari passu in every respect with the existing ordinary shares of the Company,” it added.

Back in August, Air Link launched its Initial Public Offer (IPO) that was oversubscribed by 1.6 times. Book-building resulted in a strike price of Rs71.5 at the end of the two-day process.

The company is one of the largest mobile phone distributors of Pakistan with a market share of around 20% within imported mobile phones, said Ismail Iqbal Securities at the time of the IPO.

The company also started to manufacture mobile phones locally in Pakistan since April with a monthly capacity of 400,000 units per month, which is expected to reach up to 550,000 units per month by FY23.

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