Briefs

Briefs

Leverage products’ report soon

By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: The committee constituted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will soon submit recommendations for extending financing to the capital market and existing leverage market products to the commission, a statement said on Thursday.

The committee, at its third meeting, reviewed the best international practices for extending financing to capital market. It also reviewed the existing leverage market products to identify hurdles.

The statement said the committee started formulating its recommendations, “for onwards submission to the SECP.”

“The SECP will review the recommendations of the committee keeping in forefront the core objectives of effective risk management, maintaining discipline and transparency in the market and protection of investor interests,” it added.

 

UBL Funds awarded

News Desk

KARACHI: UBL Fund Managers Limited (UBL Funds), managing UBL Stock Advantage Fund (Equity Scheme), has received the Management Association of Pakistan’s (MAP) Corporate Excellence Award in the other financial services category, a statement said on Thursday. With this, UBL Funds holds its position as the first and only asset management company in Pakistan to win a Corporate Excellence Award, it added.

The award was received by Yasir Qadri, CEO of UBL Funds from Rasheed A Rizvi, president of the Supreme Court Bar Associations of Pakistan.

 

Hubco, TCF sign agreement

By our correspondent

KARACHI: The Hub Power Company (Hubco) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with The Citizens Foundation (TCF) to provide better education access in Balochistan, a statement said on Thursday. As part of this partnership, TCF has adopted three government schools in Hub, Balochistan and will be managed on behalf of Hubco, it added.

Hubco will bear the complete cost of operating these schools, which will facilitate 500 students with free-of-charge quality education, it said.  The province with 1.8 million out-of-school children will witness first-of-its-kind school adoption in the Hub area.

 

MTN swings to first annual loss

JOHANNESBURG: Africa´s biggest mobile phone operator MTN Group swung to its first annual loss in two decades on Thursday, hit by a regulatory fine in Nigeria and unfavourable currency moves but its shares soared after it kept a dividend.

MTN agreed to pay a fine of 330 billion naira ($1.1 billion), reduced from $5.2 billion, in June last year after a prolonged legal battle to end a dispute in Nigeria over missing a deadline to cut off unregistered SIM cards.

The fine by Nigeria, MTN´s most lucrative but increasingly problematic market, wiped 10.5 billion rand ($768 million) - 500 cents per share - from the firms 2016 headline earnings, South Africa´s main measure of profit. But MTN shares rose nearly 10 percent after Africa´s largest mobile network operator said it would pay a total dividend of 700 cents a share despite the loss, compared with 1,310 in 2015. MTN also said it expects to keep it at 700 cents in 2017.

 

Deutsche Telekom profits plunge

FRANKFURT: German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom said Thursday net profits fell in 2016, as its stake in Britain´s BT lost value in the wake of last year´s Brexit vote.

Net profits were down 18 percent to 2.67 billion euros ($2.8 billion), the company said. Analysts had been expecting it to post a profit of 4.54 billion euros.

The main factor hitting profits was a 2.2-billion-euro loss from its 12-percent stake in BT "mainly as a result of declines in the BT share price and in the pound sterling following the Brexit referendum," the German group said.

Britain´s June vote to leave the European Union took the global markets completely by surprise, sparking lingering uncertainty and unease over London´s future relationship with Brussels.