Bulls dominate amidst a respite in political tensions and strong corporate earnings.
A brief respite in political tensions along with a flurry of strong corporate announcements resulted in the benchmark KSE-100 index crossing the 17,000-point barrier for the first time in history during the shortened week, which ended on January 24.
The KSE-100 index managed to climb 455 points (2.7%) to close at 17,056 points by the end of the week. The market managed to sustain the momentum gathered in the latter half of the previous week and never looked back as four sessions in the black saw it close above the 17,000-point barrier.
Investors welcomed the respite in political tensions, as hearings regarding the Rental Power Projects (RPP) scandal and the dual-offices cases were postponed till next week. With the corporate earnings season in full flow, investors shifted their attention towards the upcoming results.
Two major earnings announcements were made during the week, from Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) and Engro Foods, both beating market expectations. FFC announced earnings per share (EPS) of Rs16.38, down 7% over the previous year, despite all the woes of the fertiliser sector during 2012.
Engro Foods was another surprise package as it reported an EPS of Rs3.40 for the year, up by a whopping 190% over the previous year. The company’s share price jumped up by a staggering 281% over the last year.
Active trading was also witnessed in the Attock Group companies, who are due to announce their first half results on Monday, along with the cement sector as Lucky Cement will announce its earnings in the coming week. Lucky’s announcement will be looked at closely, as 2012 has been a bumper year for the cement sector and Lucky is the largest cement producer in the county.
Macroeconomic data also came to the forefront during the week as data for the first half of the current fiscal year continued to trickle in. The country’s fiscal deficit stood at 2.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which was better-than-expected, but largely due to the 98% growth in non-tax revenue resulting from the coalition support fund (CSF) payments received by the country.
The country’s largest exporting sector, textiles, also reported a growth of 8.6% year-on-year, supported largely by the increase in cotton yarn exports to China, and the devaluation of the rupee.
However, there was bad news in the form of the conclusion of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on which the Washington-based fund announced that the current programme will not be restructured and the country will most likely have to re-negotiate a new three-year
Winners
PTCL
Pakistan Telecommunication Company provides fixed line domestic and international telephone services, telex, telegraph, fax and leased circuit services in Pakistan.
Dawood Hercules
Dawood Hercules Corporation produces urea fertilisers. The company also produces anhydrous ammonia for manufacturers of soda ash, fructose, and other chemicals.
Bata
Bata Pakistan Limited manufactures and sells rubber, leather, and microlon sandals and shoes.
Losers
Pak Services
Pakistan Services is the holding company for Pearl Continental Hotels, which constructs, operates and manages hotels. The group also owns a number of smaller companies that provide rent-a-car, travel arrangements and tour packages.
Rafhan Maize
Rafhan Maize Products Company produces corn oil, industrial starches, liquid glucose, dextrin, gluten meals, and other corn related products. The company also produces a wide range of co-products such as gluten feeds, meals, and hydrol.
Tri-Pack Films
Tri-Pack Films manufactures and sells biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films. The company’s products include plain film, composite, cigarette grade, pearlised and metalised types. These products are primarily for packaging use.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2013.
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Correction: An earlier version of the article had an incorrect graph of Dawood Hercules. The error has been rectified.
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wrong graphs of ptcl, dawood hercules & bata are posted.. kindly correct them