Briefs

Tax offices to observe extended hours

By our correspondent

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday directed offices of Inland Revenue to work extended hours on Monday, October 31, to facilitate taxpayers in the payment of tax and filing their annual income tax returns.

The FBR issued a notification, directing all chief commissioners of the Inland Revenue of Large Taxpayers Units and Regional Tax Offices to observe extended working hours from 9:00am to 8:00pm on Monday, October 31 for receipt of income tax returns and collection of duties and taxes.

The tax officials said that October 31 is the last date to file annual income tax returns for salaried, business individuals and persons falling under the final tax regime. Further, it is also the cutoff date for companies falling under special tax year.

 

SME units in Hawksbay industrial area

News Desk

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority ( Smeda) are supporting the SME units in Hawksbay industrial area to form the proposed Hawksbay Association of Trade and Industry (HATI) to create awareness of the need to develop the area and redress their issues, a statement said on Friday.

Zulfikar Thaver, president of Unisame, and Capacity Building Group of NFIS chairman, has invited the industrialists and traders of Hawksbay to a meeting on Saturday to highlight the need for a collective forum to advocate the cause of HATI and make preparations for its formation and registration with the Director of Trade Organizations (DTO), it said.

Thaver said there is a need for an organised association in Hawksbay due to its rapid growth and vicinity to port, but because of its traffic congestion and disorganised and undisciplined pattern of growth, it remains behind.

 

'Brexit vote impact less than forecast'

COPENHAGEN: The impact of the Brexit vote on Danske Bank´s overall business has so far been less than anticipated, Chief Financial Officer Jacob Aarup-Andersen said on Friday.

But Britain´s decision to quit the European Union has made the challenge of coping with negative interest rates even tougher, he told Reuters after the bank posted forecast-beating third quarter results.

Denmark´s biggest bank by assets, which in mid-October offered about 40 percent of its 19,400 employees voluntary redundancy, remained sharply focused on costs, but it was too early to say if it might made additional larger-scale job cuts at some stage, he said. —Reuters

 

Electrolux expects slower demand

STOCKHOLM: Electrolux lowered its North American demand outlook on Friday after beating third-quarter profit expectations helped by cost cuts and a tighter focus on higher margin appliances.

The maker of Electrolux, Frigidaire, AEG and other household appliance brands followed U.S. rival Whirlpool in cutting its North American demand growth outlook this year to 3-4 percent from 4-5 percent.

The company stuck to a forecast for 2-4 percent growth in Europe but said signs of weakness in markets such as Britain, which voted in June to leave the European Union, meant growth was likely to come in at the lower end of the range.

Electrolux, which also competes with Asian firms such as LG Electronics and Haier Group, has benefited from decent overall demand in Europe this year while U.S. sales have been choppy in recent months.

The Swedish company said operating earnings rose to 1.83 billion Swedish crowns ($201.7 million) from 1.51 billion, beating the 1.73 billion expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

Whirlpool shares tumbled this week on a weaker-than-expected outlook and after it said it was suffering from discounting, particularly for washing machines, and softer demand in the United States.

       

Indofood’s core profit up

JAKARTA: Indonesia´s biggest instant noodle maker PT Indofood Sukses Makmur posted a 15 percent rise in nine-month core profit, helped by lower raw material costs and sales price increases as demand for packaged food grew in the country.

In a statement to the Jakarta stock exchange, Indofood reported a core profit of 3.12 trillion rupiah ($239.2 million) for the nine months ended Sept. 30, up from 2.71 trillion rupiah a year earlier. Core profit excludes the impact of currency moves and one-off items.

Net sales for the period grew 4.8 percent to 49.9 trillion rupiah, while net margins rose to 6.5 percent from 3.5 percent. Indofood´s financial performance is often seen as an indicator of the health of consumption in the overall economy of Indonesia, the biggest in Southeast Asia.