LAHORE
Tuesday saw another roller coaster ride for investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The market participation was meagre and the stocks rebounded in either direction. The absence of a major positive trigger in a long time has forced bulls to stay under covers. Habib Bank Limited (HBL +5.00 per cent) hit another upper lock and uplifted the index to some extent.
The KSE 100 index fell to an intraday low of 41,024.54 after the loss of 102.29 points before it jumped 284.35 points to 41,411.18. It settled with 152.47 points gain at 41,279.30.
The KMI 30 index depreciated by 572.26 points and appreciated by 324.32 points before closing marginally lower, 27.65 points. The KSE All Share Index rose up 50.20 points with 136 advancers and 189 decliners.
The volumes continued to remain absent from the bourse. A total of 99.68 million shares were traded in the session with Engro Polymer and Chemical Limited (EPCL -4.27 per cent) in lead. The script saw 9.43 million shares exchange on the table. K-Electric Limited (KEL +1.79 per cent), volume 9.29 million, and Jahanghir Siddiqui and Company Limited (JSCL +5.01 per cent), volume 8.95 million, follow.
Berger Paints Pakistan Limited (BERG -1.27 per cent) declared flat sales for the year FY17. Sales of Rs 5.12 billion brought gross profit margins down from 30 per cent to 29 per cent while the operating profit margins cut down from 8 per cent to 6 per cent. Earnings per share improved by 9 per cent to Rs 11.11. No dividend was announced.
The company profits have surged 237 per cent in the past 5-years and the share price grew from Rs 23.25 to Rs 186.33 in the same period.
Millat Tractors Limited (MTL +0.64 per cent) reported sales of Rs 30.01 billion which are 77 per cent higher than that in the previous year. With Operating profit margins of 20 per cent the company boosted net profit to Rs 4.26 billion from last year’s Rs 1.75 billion after it earned other income of Rs 6.10 million in comparison to Rs 2.72 million in FY16. Earnings per share jumped over 140 per cent to Rs 96.12 and a final cash dividend of Rs 60.00 was approved by the board in addition to Rs 35.00 interim.
Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL -0.82 per cent) sales grew 8 per cent in 2017 but 47 per cent below where it stood in FY13. Net profits expanded from Rs 2.83 million to Rs 1.06 billion, a jump of over 270 per cent in a year. This was also 76 per cent lower than that achieved 5-years back. Earnings per share clocked at Rs 3.45 against FY16’s Rs 0.93.
