Business News

Continuing with the growth momentum, AGP Limited has unveiled net profits of Rs 1.44 billion for the year 2019 against the profits of Rs 1.2 billion reported in 2018, marking a growth of 20% YoY. During the year, the company’s net revenues jumped by 16% YoY on the back of strong sales supported by robust growth in sales to Afghanistan. The cost of sales also rose to 10.79% YoY due to Rupee devaluation and increase in prices of raw materials, nevertheless, the company managed to uplift gross profits by 20.3 YoY on the back of better sales performance coupled with production efficiencies. This has led the gross margins to lock in at a high 59% against 56% in 2018. With regards to the company’s major expense heads.. the marketing and selling expenses were up by 12% YoY due to rise in general inflation and growth in business operations. Moreover, due to upsurge in interest rates.. the company’s finance cost grew by 13.4% YoY. Overall, the encouraging results yielded earnings per shar...

*جاوید چوہدری* *زیرو پوائنٹ* *میڈیا زیادہ خطرناک ہے* وکٹر اٹلی کے شہر میلان سے تعلق رکھتا ہے‘ گارمنٹس فیکٹریوں کو کپڑا سپلائی کرتا ہے‘ عمر 62 سال ہے اور یہ مضافات میں چھوٹے سے گاﺅں میں رہتا ہے‘ وکٹر دو ماہ شدید بیمار رہا‘ اسے بخار بھی تھا‘ نزلہ بھی‘ زکام بھی اور اس کے جسم میں بھی درد ہوتا تھا لیکن یہ بیماری کے باوجود کام کرتا رہا‘ چالیس سال سے ایکسرسائز کا عادی ہے‘ بخار کے عالم میں بھی جاگنگ اور سوئمنگ کرتا رہا‘ بخار ٹھیک ہو گیا اور یہ روٹین کے مطابق زندگی گزارنے لگا‘ دسمبر 2019ءمیں چین سے کرونا وائرس کی اطلاعات آنے لگیں۔ دنیا وائرس کی طرف متوجہ ہوگئی‘ یورپ میں تحقیقات شروع ہوئیں تو پتا چلا چین کے بعد اٹلی میں سب سے زیادہ مریض سامنے آ رہے ہیں‘اطالوی حکومت نے مزید تحقیقات کیں ‘ پتا چلا کرونا وائرس کے زیادہ تر مریضوں کا تعلق میلان اور وینس کے علاقوں سے ہے‘ حکومت نے فوراً خطرے کا الارم بجا دیا‘ آپ شاید یہ جان کر حیران ہوں گے کرونا اٹلی کے صوبے گوریزیاکے شہر ماریانو ڈیل فرولی کاایک چھوٹاسا گاﺅں ہے‘ کرونا کا مطلب تاج (کراﺅن) ہوتا ہے‘ یورپ میں1918ءمیں انفلوئنزا کی خوف ناک وباءپھوٹی تھی...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has recorded a loss of Rs2.2 billion in March due to suspension of flights from different routes because of the spreading coronavirus, a source said. This came despite the fact that many air travellers were seeking to fly through PIA, which achieved 100% seat occupancy. Flights have been suspended on several routes including the most important ones such as China, Kuwait, Qatar, Italy, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has suspended flights for only sevevty two hours ending at 3pm on Sunday. The Saudi Arabian government also told Umrah pilgrims to leave the country, prompting them to immediately book airline seats. PIA was one of the few airlines offering its services to them. There were around 40,000 Umrah pilgrims. About 18,000 came through PIA and Airblue while others reached home with the help of other airlines. ‘Mothers advised not to bring children’ as PIA shuts baby daycare centre in Karachi On the other hand, Riyadh has allowed the holde...

After a warning by Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) of possible plant closure, Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) has become a victim of slack oil demand as the company has been forced to shut down one of its plants due to the reluctance of oil marketing companies (OMCs) to lift locally produced petroleum products. ARL operates on locally produced crude oil and its plant shutdown may lead to a gas crisis as it will reduce crude oil purchases from oil and gas exploration and production companies. The refinery management has also warned of a gas crisis if it is closed. Oil traders are making money through higher imports at the cost of local refineries that are set to face inventory losses due to a sharp decline in global crude oil prices following the eruption of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Earlier, the PRL management warned the Petroleum Division that the refinery was surviving on an hour-to-hour basis and the refusal of OMCs, which were not buying local petroleum product...

The government is considering hiring international third party auditors to end an ongoing controversy between the Power Division and the regulator over the size of circular debt. Informed sources said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is engaged with the Power Division on a regular basis to get clarity on questions raised by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority over the power sector financials given the fact that power sector performance was at the centre of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility. Therefore. the role of third-party examination of power sector financials had become imporant. The sources said that an independent validation had become necessary after some cabinet members recently raised concerns over the conflicting statistics and put up written questions for the satisfaction of federal cabinet. A team of power ministry officials had been assigned to prepare detailed responses to the questionnaire along with a report on questions being raised and the pr...

With the economy reeling, US President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency to stem the damage from the coronavirus, unlocking $50 billion in federal spending while also unveiling plans to stockpile oil and waive interest payments on student loans. Hours later, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced she reached agreement with the White House on stimulus legislation to help people impacted by the outbreak, something economists say is critical to prevent an economic downturn. Trump’s speech cheered Wall Street and sent the Dow up 9.3 percent, much needed good news after a week that saw the index suffer its worst day of trading since 1987 and the Federal Reserve inject $1.5 trillion into money markets to keep the financial system running. “The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion… for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease,” Trump said. With oil prices hammered by the outbreak, Trump said the US...

After suffering massive losses this week the rupee on Friday made a partial recovery of Rs2.6 to Rs156.7 against the US dollar in the interbank market. However, no movement was recorded in the open market as dollar held steady at Rs158.5. Starting from Monday the rupee started its slide from the opening value of Rs154.25 to reach Rs157.9, losing Rs3.65 in a single day. The trend continued, as the greenback rose to Rs159.3 before losing some ground end of the week. Currency dealers had regarded the recent devaluation a temporary phenomenon caused by the increase in demand for dollars on account of foreign selling and outflows from the treasury bills. Latest data published by the State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday showed that foreigners have unloaded $606 million net in March. “There was no buying in the second half as foreigners didn’t book any forward rates, which led banks to sell their holdings, bring the dollar down, said Forex Association of Pakistan President Malik Bostan. ...