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BUSINESS PERISCOPE:

KSE completes all formalities for debt market trading

KARACHI: The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has completed all developmental and regulatory work for trading in the debt market securities at the exchange through bond automated trading system (BATS). According to the KSE notice on Wednesday, the date for go-live will be announced very soon. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had already accorded approval for regulations governing BATS of KSE. The KSE would provide live, system based, on screen, electronic trading platform called BATS. app

TCP awards contract for 100,000 MT urea

KARACHI: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has awarded contract to the lowest bidder for the supply of 100,000 metric tonnes of urea at $298.75 per metric tonne C&F basis. A TCP source said on Wednesday that the tender was floated on October 13, and the bidding was held on October 20, 2009 at the corporation’s head office. M/s Gavilon Fertilizers of USA was the lowest bidder. A total of four contestants had offered C&F prices ranging between $298.75 to $303.50 per tonne, the source said. So far, TCP had awarded contracts for a total of 525,000 MT of urea against eight tenders, he said. The corporation now needs to award contract for the supply of 75,000 MT of urea to meet the target of importing 600,000 MT of urea for the Rabi season as directed by the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, he added. app

Fauji Fertilizer announces cash dividend

KARACHI: Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim has posted a profit after tax of Rs 1.805 billion for the nine months ending on September 30, 2008 and declared the 2nd interim cash dividend of Rs 1.25 per share. According to financial results of the company dispatched to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the gross profit was estimated at Rs 3.10 billion. The earning per share stood at Rs 1.83 during the period under review. app

FPCCI slams MCB union protest


KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the business community are very much perturbed over the protest by the MCB staff union outside MCB Towers. In a statement by spokesman of FPCCI Wednesday, it was said that these activities are not only damaging the banking industry of Pakistan but also harming the image of Pakistan in the world. It has been learnt they are continuously interfering in the normal business activities of the bank and forcing the closure of bank branches after threatening the bank staff and customers, which is direly affecting the economic activities. staff report

Bank Al-Habib’s profits up

KARACHI: Bank Al-Habib has posted a profit after tax of Rs 1.995 billion for nine months of the current financial year ending on September 30, 2009 but did not announce any dividend. According to financial results of the bank dispatched to the Karachi Stock Exchange, the pre-tax profit climbed to Rs 3.224 billion for the period under review as earning per share also surged to Rs 3.27. app

‘47,000 jobs will be lost in Taiwan without trade pact with China’

TAIPEI: Around 47,000 Taiwanese workers will lose their jobs if the island fails to ink a proposed trade pact with China, according to a government estimate released on Wednesday. The workers would be made redundant because the island’s economy is forecast to see its international competitiveness weaken without the agreement, said the report from the Labour Affairs Council. It was the first prediction of how many jobs would be lost if the trade pact falters. Other forecasts have tried to predict how many people would lose their jobs due to competition from China’ cheap labour if the deal goes ahead. Indeed, the council said that up to 125,000 new jobs would be created if the trade deal were to be realised. Taiwan’s government says the pact, known as the ‘Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement’, will boost the flow of goods and personnel between the island and the mainland and hopes it will be signed early next year. afp

Morgan Stanley back in black, earns $757m

NEW YORK: Morgan Stanley posted Wednesday third-quarter earnings of $757 million, swinging to profit on improved investment banking operations after three straight quarterly losses. The profit amounted to 38 cents a share, well ahead of expectations of 27 cents a shares. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were the only two major Wall Street investment firms surviving the financial crisis last year, but both converted to commercial bank status to have better access to Federal Reserve credit. Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took a stake in Morgan Staley to help it weather the credit crisis. Morgan Stanley repaid the US government in June for a $10 billion capital injection under a programme to help stabilise the financial system. afp

Russia eyes 4% quarterly growth

MOSCOW: The Russian economy may expand as much as four percent in the fourth quarter as the country shows the first signs of recovery, a senior economic official was quoted as saying Wednesday. “We expect the growth of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter (from the third quarter 2009) to be between three percent and four percent,” Deputy Economic Minister Andrei Klepach said, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported. afp

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