News Update Times

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited (PTC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change inaugurated the Aerial Seeding Event on Monday 1st of March. The Chief Guest, Malik Amin Aslam, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change inaugurated this one-of-a-kind event; an afforestation activity that has never been undertaken before by any private sector organization in Pakistan.

The event commenced Aerial Seeding of seed balls, in Barakahu Reserve Forest on nearly 700 acres of land.  The Chief Guest dropped seed balls in the area whilst in the helicopter, formally marking the start of the plantation campaign.

SAPM on climate change, Malik Amin Aslam during his speech appreciated the efforts being made by PTC on reverse deforestation and congratulated them on initiating the aerial seeding. This initiative is commendable as Pakistan is already under immense pressure due to drastic change in the climate and such afforestation attempts to reclaim the lost forest cover of Pakistan will prove to be a great tool to ensure “A BETTER TOMORROW”. We will observe the results and once successful then we will be replicating this activity across Pakistan in the coming years, he said.

Director Legal & External Affairs, Asad Shah mentioned that PTC has currently the oldest and largest private sector afforestation program in the country and has planted and distributed 100+ million trees since 1981 and this year we have embarked with a renewed commitment to our Environment, Social and Governance agenda. We have plans to plant and distribute 55 million plants this year, and the company aims at taking this number to 100+ million plants annually by 2025. Along with our plans to shift our operations to renewable energy, we aim to become amongst the biggest contributors to British American Tobacco’s agenda of being carbon neutral by 2030. He also stated that through 3D mapping of the Barakahu Reserve Forest, they will be continuously monitoring the results of this activity year on year basis. This new technology enables us to see the addition that we will be making to increase the forest cover.

The company representative, Muhammad Qasim, explained that each seed ball contains four seeds of indigenous species and have a success rate of more than 70%. The company has plans of dispersing 12 million seed balls during this activity in phases across the country.

Bank Alfalah and ACE Money Transfer Holds a Prize Handover Ceremony and Announces its New Promotional Campaign

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan– ACE Money Transfer, a leading cross-border remittance provider, and Bank Alfalah, one of the largest private banks in Pakistan, held a ceremony to handover prize to the lucky draw winner of the 2020 Joint Mega Prize Campaign for their customers in Europe and Pakistan. The ceremony was held in Sheesh Mehal at Islamabad Serena Hotel on 1st March, 2021 during which a brand new Honda Civic was presented to Mr. Asim Hussain Shah, the campaign’s lucky winner of the bumper prize.

Present at the occasion were the key members of the management from both, ACE and Bank Alfalah. Further, the renowned Pakistani actor and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz recipient, Mehwish Hayat also graced the event to congratulate the winner and announce the upcoming mega promotional campaign for 2021.

Through the upcoming mega promotional campaign for 2021, Bank Alfalah and ACE will incentivize the customers sending remittances to Pakistan to win various prizes, with include 20 tola gold, 5 tola gold biscuit and an iPhone 12 PRO- 128 GB. The duration of this campaign will be from 15th March to 15th June 2021.

Rashid Ashraf, CEO of ACE Money Transfer said on the occasion, “By launching this campaign with Bank Alfalah, we intend to strengthen our collaboration with one of the largest and most technologically advanced banks of Pakistan. Our objective is to create a deeper bond with our customers who entrust us with their remittances.”

Saadur Rahman Khan,  Group Head for Corporate, Investment Banking & International Business Division at Bank Alfalah also remarked during the event, “We, at Bank Alfalah, are always working hard to go above and beyond to meet the needs of our overseas partners. We are constantly improving our service levels and offerings for our alliance partners with the objective of serving the expectations of the Pakistanis diaspora and their families in Pakistan and making their experience with us easy and convenient”.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) BankIslami, Pakistan’s leading Islamic Bank, partnered with Pakistan International Airline (PIA) to co-brand their aircrafts, taking BankIslami’s visibility up a notch. The national carrier proudly features BankIslami headrests and pillow covers in all flights allowing customers to be acquainted with BankIslami.

PIA serves 43 destinations operating 100 flights a day, making it the airline with the largest number of connections and the carrier of choice for people travelling to and from Pakistan. 

BankIslami is taking this partnership opportunity to raise its brand image and recognition as one of the country’s premier finance institutes and this promising collaboration between two pioneers in their respective domains is guaranteed to be mutually beneficial. 

Commenting on this development, BankIslami President and CEO, Syed Amir Ali stated; “At a time when providing simple mediums for financial inclusion to the masses has become imperative, BankIslami is making sure that this access is technologically-adept and Shariah-compliant.

Our product offerings are substantial and through this association with PIA, we aim to grab the attention of travelers to explore the convenience, security and peace of mind that comes with what BankIslami, as an organization has to offer.”

BankIslami is the country’s first scheduled Islamic Bank with more than 340 branches spread across the country in 123 cities. The Bank specializes in RIBA-free products and services which are delivered to customers in the most efficient and user-friendly manner.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC) and its Partner Financial Institutions (PFIs) joined hands to provide and promote affordable housing finance in the country by signing Credit Guarantee Agreements with Credit Guarantee Trusts for Low-Cost Housing, set up by the Government of Pakistan with PMRC as Trustee.

In the ceremony held at PMRC’s office at FTC in Karachi Credit Guarantee Agreements were signed with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited (UBL), Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) and Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited (DIBPL), which will allow them to avail risk cover for low-income housing finance. Soneri Bank limited (SBL) also participated in the event to partner with PMRC to obtain Refinancing Facility to help them grow their housing portfolio. These initiatives will allow the banks to partially alleviate the credit risk entailed and provide affordable mortgage facilities to the low-income, particularly those in the informal sector.

PFIs were represented by their Presidents Mr. Arif Usmani – CEO NBP, Mr. Shahzad Dada – CEO UBL, Mr. Atif Bajwa – CEO BAFL, Mr. Junaid Ahmed – CEO DIBPL and Mr. Muhtashim Ahmad Ashai – CEO SBL.

Mudassir H. Khan, MD & CEO, PMRC expressed his views saying,  “It is indeed a proud moment for PMRC and all PFIs, as we recognize the importance of mutual coordination between the financial institutions for the growth of affordable housing in the country. In particular, the Credit Guarantee will play a key role in the promotion of low-income housing and realizing the Government of Pakistan’s vision of making affordable housing a reality.”

Presiding the ceremony, Ms. Sima Kamil, Deputy Governor SBP praised the efforts of PMRC and PFIs for this groundbreaking event and said that this endeavor is not only a step forward in making the dreams of many low-income earners of owning a house come true but also an example of turning visions into reality.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Agha Steel Industries has announced its financial results for the half year ended on 31st December 2020.

Company has announced a total profit after tax of 1057 million for half year while its October to December’s Quarter after tax profit remained Rs. 548 million. 

The earning per share for the half year remained Rs. 2.13 vs the last year’s  corresponding period EPS of Rs.1.95. The current quarter’s EPS remained Rs. 1.11 compared with the last quarter EPS of Rs. 1.11,  despite the addition of 120,000,000 shares to the share capital of the company,  the EPS remains the same.

Company’s total gross sales for the 6 months remained Rs. 12,026 million while quarterly gross sales remained  Rs. 6 136 million.

Agha Steel’s half yearly results clearly reflects a progressive trend of the company. During the period, the Company posted exemplary standards while raising equity with in the industry by achieving(1.6x) oversubscription of its recently floated IPO.

The equity raised amounted to Rs 3.84 Billion from institutional investors, high net worth individuals and general public. The capital generated through this IPO is being used for installing the world acclaimed Mi.Da Technology, for which approximated 50% of the work is already completed till the period already ended Dec 31, 2020,  at the AGHA plant located at Port Qasim.

 This Mi.Da technology will make AGHA one of the most technologically advanced steel manufactures not only in Pakistan but in Asia.

Net profit Margin for AGHA has been 10.2% for the period under review, which is mainly due to the 45% (YoY comparison) reduction in interest cost, but a decline in the GP margin for the period was observed mainly due to the exorbitant increase in international scrap prices as well as Increase in electricity tariff. However, to reduce the effect of electricity tariff, AGHA commenced installation of a pilot project of Solar Power of 2.25 MW in anticipation of attaining 100% green renewable energy in future.

One of the significant highlight for the said period is the reduction in the Cash Operating Cycle for the company which has been substantially reduced from 179 days to 51 days on YoY basis, which is a step in the right direction for any manufacturing corner.

An astounding surge in sales was witnessed where by the sale soared by 46% as compared to last year, these sales we mainly attributed to increase in market share achieved through Retail segment penetration and setting up Regional Sales offices which has opened up new avenues for the company.

During the period VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) has upgraded the entity ratings of Agha Steel Industries Limited (AGHA) from ‘A-/A-2’ (Single A Minus/A-Two) to ‘A/A-2’ (Single A/A-Two). Outlook on the assigned ratings is ‘Stable’. The said entity upgrading, re-affirms company balance sheet strength & strong fundamentals, duly accredited by independent third party credit rating agency.

AGHA was reported amongst successful suppliers that got enlisted for supplies at 3 of the major Dam Projects of Federal Government of Pakistan including, Mohmand, Dasu & Diamer Bhasha Dam, at the same time the company also got enlisted at Military Engineering Services as manufacturer cum supplier of deformed bars for their upcoming projects, supplies for these projects will significantly increase sales for AGHA in near future, as the construction of dams will require sizable quantity of steel, which AGHA will be able to provide with its new Mi.Da plant.

AGHA which prides itself for being technology leader also intend to reach the best HR practices in the industry. Keeping that vision intact, the company recently on boarded top professionals from relevant industries at the posts of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer and a separate Chief Operating Officer of their Air Separation Unit. These highly skilled professionals bring industrial exposure and experience along with them which is going to add value in AGHA’s growth at a much faster pace in the near future.

So overall AGHA is all set to achieve greater heights in the coming future, with a massive construction industry boom to look forward to. Once housing projects begin, along with the construction of dams, demand for rebars would shoot and AGHA seems well-prepared to meet these demands.