Dial *930# for amazing 3G offers on Samsung Galaxy

Lahore, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): For the first time in Pakistan, Samsung has launched Telenor’s special tariff plans for Galaxy devices. Upon dialing *930# from a Telenor prepaid SIM, the users of a Samsung Galaxy device will receive the option to subscribe to any one of the special bundles being offered through this campaign.

Under this special tariff offer; Samsung’s Weekly Package will provide the subscriber with 500 MB of Data, 500 On-net Minutes and 500 SMS for one week, at an attractive price of Rs. 150/ only. Similarly, the Galaxy device users who opt for Samsung’s Monthly Package, will be able to enjoy 1500 MB of Data, 1500 On-net Minutes and 1500 SMS, by paying a mere 375 Rupees.

For the Post-paid subscribers too, Samsung has created a valuable offering, to provide them with 1200 Minutes on All Mobile Networks and 1500 MB of Data, along with 1500 SMS. For enjoying this fabulous offer of high quality services from Telenor, the Post-paid customer will only have to pay a Line-Rent of 1000 Rupees only.

Mr. Farid Ullah Jan, head of Samsung Mobiles for Pakistan and Afghanistan expressed his pleasure and optimism on this collaborative offer. He stated that; “As the users of Samsung Galaxy devices are thoroughly enjoying the fascinating features and powerful Apps in their favourite Galaxy devices, Samsung has further enriched the Galaxy user’s experience, by creating this economical and sensational package of high-quality services, backed by the superlative 3G network of a truly global brand like Telenor.”

For more information, contact:
Samsung Electronics
Technology Park,
2nd Floor Tower A,
Shahrah-e-Faisal
Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-32790281-3
Fax: +92-21-32790284
Web: http://www.samsung.com

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to retain spirit of Section 8 of Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969 in Draft Securities Act so that a unified order book or national market system can be introduced in Pakistan: Aftab Ahmad Ch

Lahore, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): In order to remove fragmentations in the price discovery and order execution mechanisms existing amongst the three stock exchanges of the country, MD LSE has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to retain the spirit of Section 8 of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969 in the Draft Securities Act, so that a ‘Unified Order Book’ or ‘National Market System’ can be immediately introduced in Pakistan.

MD LSE has stated that Section 8 of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969, had vested the powers in the Commission to promulgate Rules whereby the Commission could prescribe the manner for the execution of transactions on any exchange by any person. He said that Section 8(1) of the S and EO 1969 was changed during 2006 whereby the Commission had intended to introduce the spirit of prescribing of a ‘Unified Order Book’ for the exchanges in the country.

He said that under the previous version of Section 8(1), no person could trade on any on any Exchange unless he was a member thereof. He said that the purpose of the change was to change the context of trading on any stock exchange by a member of the same stock exchange into the execution of trading on any exchange by a member of any other exchange.

He said that the said section empowered the Commission to promulgate Rules to order the inter-connectivity of the trading platforms of the domestic exchanges so that the orders from one exchange could be executed on the platforms of another exchange.

He said that unfortunately, despite having such an enabling clause since 2006, no progress was made towards the establishment of a unified market system in the country because of the pending demutualization process of the domestic exchanges.

However, he said that, since the demutualization of the exchanges has already taken place and since the members of the exchanges have already been given monetary compensation in the form of shares based on the asset valuation of the respective exchanges in exchange of surrendering their ownership rights in these exchanges, therefore it had become imperative that the matter of unification of the order books of the exchanges could be proceeded.

He said that it was because of this reason that LSE had been inviting the attention of the Commission to end the shortcomings in the present way of executing the ‘inter-exchange trading’ between the members of the three stock exchanges. He said that very recently, the Commission had nominated a committee, comprising of the three stock exchanges, CDC and NCCPL’s management, to address these shortcomings and the Committee’s report is expected shortly.

He said that LSE fears that the new Securities Act being debated at the Parliament level may not contain any such powers for the Commission, which would result in the continued fragmentation of the trading platforms of the domestic stock exchanges because of which LSE has highlighted this matter for the timely attention of the policy makers and the parliamentarians.

MD LSE stated that unlike the full-scale merger of the exchanges of the country, which may create a humongous and an arrogant monopoly of a single exchange, the unification of order books of the exchanges would enable in the best interest of the investors and the issuers alike.

He said that since the draft Act contains the provision for the licensing of new exchanges, therefore in order to ensure the continued interest of the investors and the listed companies, it was best to introduce modern legislation which would neutralize the domination of any one exchange in the country.

He said that the exchanges are fundamentally the ‘public-interest utilities’ and as such need to adopt modern inter-connectivity principles as being practiced and regulated by the telecom, banking and airline sectors, where a consumer, irrespective of the choice of the service provider’ is ensured non-discrimination.

MD LSE explained that the present system of different order books/trading platforms offered by three stock exchanges is detrimental to the investors and is acting against the basic rights of the investors to obtain ‘best-price’ and ‘faster-execution’ of their trading orders in Pakistan. He explained that the investors trading through the members of LSE and ISE fail to get the best price due to low liquidity in the trading platforms of these exchanges.

He said that since both of these exchanges conventionally service the retail clients, therefore there are always price-mistakes in the value of scrips existing between the most liquid stock exchange of the country-Karachi Stock Exchange and the other two stock exchanges.

He said that already in 2007, ISE and LSE had combined their trading platforms, however KSE had refused to act in the best interests of the investors and had not accepted the rationale that being ‘public-interest utilities’ the fundamental duty of our exchanges was to ensure ‘best-price’ and ‘faster-execution’ to all investors irrespective of from where the orders were originated.

He said that for this purpose, both LSE and ISE had proposed an access mechanism based on the ‘market-access fee’ to KSE but KSE had refused to join hands. MD LSE further said that after the demutualization of the exchanges, there is no merit in continuing with the old system and especially when the brokers of the exchanges can’t claim to manufacture the ‘best-price’.

He said that the best price of a listed security is achieved through an anonymous auction like process of the investors orders and the brokers act only as the intermediaries for forwarding these trading orders from the investors. He said that accordingly, no exchange can claim to have a monopoly on the ‘best-price’ of the scrips.

MD LSE has stated that all other advanced regions of the World, like USA and Europe had, in the best interest of the investors, introduced modern regulatory changes to end fragmentations existing in the order-books of their exchanges by requiring the exchanges to inter-connect their trading platforms so that the investors could get the best price of the securities traded irrespective of the choice of the trading venues (exchanges) or the intermediaries (brokers).

He said that the policy makers must refer to the National Market System (NMS) of USA and MiFid regulations of the EU and adopt the spirit of such regulations in Pakistan as well, for which the retention of the powers with the Commission to prescribe the order execution mechanism as per the existing Section 8(1) of the S and EO 1969 is a must.

For more information, contact:-
Barkat Ali Anjum
Deputy Manager-Media and Public Relations Department
Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE)
Lahore Stock Exchange Building,
19, Khayaban-e-Aiwan-e-Iqbal, P. O. Box: 1315,
Lahore – 54000, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-36368000
Fax: +92-42-36368484-85
Email: barkatali@lse.com.pk
Website: www.lse.com.pk

Lamudi.pk relaunches with intuitive new design – Pakistan’s best real estate website unveils new-look responsive interface to simplify house-hunting

Karachi, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): Lamudi.pk has re-launched with a complete revamp of its website to offer a more intuitive design that streamlines the online house-hunting process for users globally.

The new website introduces a responsive design, with the site adapting to match the user’s particular device and screen size. The platform’s appearance has been improved to display properties for sale and rent in an easier-to-read format with larger photos. Dedicated sections for real estate agencies and new spaces for advertisements have also been introduced.

Lamudi.pk’s, Country Director, Saad Arshed, said: “This redesign puts the user at the center of our product. The responsive design is very important because we know an increasing number of our users access Lamudi on a mobile device in addition to a desktop PC. The new design is tailored to our customers’ needs, making it easier than ever before to find the perfect property online and to contact real estate agents via phone, SMS or email.

At the same time, we will be introducing a variety of new features to cater for our partners, particularly agents and brokers. This is why we have introduced dedicated sections to showcase real estate agencies and created more space for listings, photos and advertisements.”

On the homepage, users are greeted with a brighter, cleaner design in engaging new colours. Search results are easier to read, with a new two-column design which has more space to display properties and promote featured agents. Search filters have been customised and a new price slider added so both web and mobile users can easily filter results by price, property size and all other relevant features.

The property listings have a cleaner structure, with larger images and intuitive navigation elements introduced. All other elements of the site – including the My Account section and Listing Uploader – have been given a fresh new layout and updated to the new colours, with many further usability improvements following soon.

Lamudi is a global real estate portal focusing exclusively on the emerging markets. The website is currently available in 32 countries in these regions. The new design has been rolled out for all countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and Latin America. To ensure the website remains highly relevant for each of its local markets, Lamudi has introduced different variations of the website, including a customized search field for each country.

For more information, contact:
Lamudi.pk
Arfa Software Technology Park
346-B, Ferozpur Road,
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-LAMUDI (111-526834)
Cell: +92-345-8404207
Email: wecare@lamudi.pk
Website: www.lamudi.pk

JCR-VIS reaffirms Fund Stability Rating of PICIC Income Fund

Karachi, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has reaffirmed the Fund Stability Rating (FSR) of PICIC Income Fund (PIF) at ‘A+(f)’ (Single A Plus(f)). The previous rating action was announced on December 23, 2013.

Asset allocation has so far remained conservative vis-a-vis the allowed policy limits, with just under two-thirds of assets remaining deployed in government paper during FY14 and another one-fifth in cash and bank placements. All credit exposures are subject to minimum rating of ‘A+’. The maximum limit for exposure in margin trading system is proposed to be revised downwards from 40% to 15%; actual investment in this avenue has remained below 15%during FY14.

The IPS allows the fund to extend duration up to two years (preferably 365 days). The same stood at 484 days at end-December, 2014. The duration increased on account of larger holding of PIBs, given the management’s expectations regarding downward movement in policy rate. Accordingly, the fund’s exposure to interest rate risk has trended upwards.

Investor concentration has improved on a timeline basis, though it is still considered to be on the higher side. Performance of the fund is benchmarked against average 6 months KIBOR. In addition to depicting a decline in line with the general trend in interest rates in the market, return of the fund has remained lower than the benchmark over the last three years as assets held by the fund do not carry return pegged to KIBOR.

For more information, contact:
Ms. Sobia Maqbool
CFA
JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited
VIS House, 128/C,
25th Lane off Khayaban-e-Ittehad,
Phase VII, DHA, Karachi
Tel: +92-21-35311861-72
Fax: +92-21-35311873
Email: sobia@jcrvis.com.pk

Microsoft launches Lumia 435 and 532 for PKR 10,350 and PKR 12,000

Karachi, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services announced the availability of Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM smartphones at a price that you can’t resist. Offering the latest Windows Phone 8.1 capabilities at incredible prices, both Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM deliver smartphone experiences that help people do more on the go.

Price for Lumia 435 in Pakistan: Rs. 10,350

Price for Lumia 532 in Pakistan: Rs. 12,000

With many people looking to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone for the first time, Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM provide a balance of features and power, while also bringing Windows Phone 8.1 experiences to new price points. Lumia 435 Dual SIM is the first 400 series Lumia and the most affordable Lumia yet.

With core smartphone features, incredible Windows Phone experiences and access to the latest apps, it opens up the Lumia experience to even more people. Lumia 532 Dual SIM is a powerful quad-core smartphone that builds on the success of the Lumia 530. With a premium layered design, Glance Screen, front-facing camera and more memory than the Lumia 530, Lumia 532 Dual SIM enables people to achieve their goals with Microsoft experiences.

People can switch effortlessly between voice and video calls with built-in Skype integration and a front-facing camera. They can read, review, edit and share on the go with the preinstalled full suite of Microsoft Office on Windows Phone.

The 30GB of free* OneDrive cloud storage lets people keep their photos, videos and Office documents safely backed up. Microsoft Outlook enables easy management of work and personal correspondence while Lumia Camera captures photos quickly. The Lumia Selfie App lets people take, edit and share great selfies with the front-facing camera while the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update is loaded with one-swipe Action Centre, Word Flow and Live Folders.

Commenting on the occasion, Muhammad Kamran Khan, Country General Manager, Microsoft Devices and Services – Pakistan said: When we launched the first Lumia devices over three years ago, we said we were committed to bringing devices to as many people and price points as possible.

Today, with the launch of Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM, we’ve realized our goal of creating the most affordable Lumia devices to date, opening up the opportunity to reach those people who are buying a smartphone for the very first time.

Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM deliver competitive hardware alongside innovative software that will continue to receive the very latest updates and enhancements, keeping users up-to-date with the best new features.”

Microsoft Lumia 435 Specifications:

CPU: Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7

Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8210 Snapdragon 200

OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1

Supported Networks: 2G, 3G

Design:

Dimensions: 118.1 x 64.7 x 11.7 mm

Weight: 134 g

Display:

Capacitive touch screen, 16M colours

4.0 inches, 480 x 800 pixels (~233 ppi pixel density)

Memory:

RAM: 1 GB

Internal: 8 GB

Card slot: microSD, up to 128 GB

Camera:

Primary: 2 MP, 1600 x 1200 pixels

Secondary: VGA, 480p

Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0

Battery: Li-Ion 1560 mAh battery

Release Date: February 2015 (expected)

Price: PKR 10,350

Microsoft Lumia 532 Specifications:

CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7

Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8212 Snapdragon 200

OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1

Supported Networks: 2G, 3G

Design:

Dimensions: 118.9 x 65.5 x 11.6 mm

Weight: 136 g

Display:

Capacitive touch screen, 16M colours

4.0 inches, 480 x 800 pixels (~233 ppi pixel density)

Memory:

RAM: 1 GB

Internal: 8 GB

Card slot: microSD, up to 128 GB

Camera:

Primary: 5 MP, 2592 х 1944 pixels

Secondary: VGA, 480p

Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0

Battery: Li-Ion 1560 mAh battery

Release Date: February 2015 (expected)

Price: PKR 12,000

Lumia 435 Dual SIM and Lumia 532 Dual SIM are available in Pakistan in bright green, bright orange, white and black colours.

For more information, contact:
Haseeb Shaukat
Manager Marketing and Communication
Microsoft Pakistan
Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-35839934
Email: a-hs@microsoft.com

Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited assigns Entity Ratings to Cherat Cement Company Limited

Lahore, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): PACRA has assigned a long-term entity rating of ‘A-‘ (Single A Minus) and short-term rating of ‘A2′ (A Two) to Cherat Cement. These ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk emanating from strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

The ratings reflect Cherat Cement’s adequate business profile – likely to be strengthened through planned expansion – and conservatively designed financial profile. The company has ventured into brown-field project to add above 1.3mln tons p.a of new production line. This, while more than doubling
existing capacity, is likely to add efficiency to overall operations. In pursuant of expansion, Cherat Cement has to create room for debt driven capacity addition.

Although this would raise the leveraging; given currently deleveraged balance sheet, it is expected to remain at adequate level. Comfort is drawn from the debt structure, whereby in addition to grace period, first principal payment would fall due two years after planned CoD; interest during construction is an inbuilt component. Meanwhile, available free cash flows would be retained. This would provide cushion to financial risk profile. The ratings draw comfort from positive cement sector fundamentals.

The ratings are dependent on the management’s ability to improve business and EBITDA margins to become at par with industry. Timely execution of the planned expansion while tapping potential demand creating room for capacity utilization of new plant is considered critical to maintain the ratings at current level.

For more information, contact:
Hammad Rashid
Analyst
The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited (PACRA)
Awami Complex, FB1, Usman Block New Garden Town,
Lahore – Pakistan
Tel: +9242 586 9504 -6
Fax: +9242 583 0425
Email: hammad.rashid@pacra.com
Web: www.pacra.com

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan organizes investor awareness seminar

Karachi, February 25, 2015 (PPI-OT): The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to further its endeavour of protecting retail investors, raising awareness about savings and investment and building investor confidence, organized an awareness seminar at the Greenwich University. The seminar was conducted in collaboration with Central Depository Company (CDC).

The participants were briefed on mutual funds and role of CDC in Pakistan’s capital markets. It was part of the SECP’s overall investor education program, which is aimed at enhancing financial literacy and providing easy access to financial instruments through setting up of capital market hubs across major cities of Pakistan.

The SECP is actively conducting seminars across major cities of Pakistan to raise awareness about importance of savings and available legal investment opportunities. These seminars were aimed at safeguarding investor’s interests. More such seminars are scheduled with ICMAP in this week and the upcoming one in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.

For more information, contact:
Shakil Ahmad Chaudhary
Head, Internal and External Communication
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
NIC Building, 63 Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-9214005 or +92-51-9214009 (Ext. 378)
Fax: +92-51-9206459
Cell: +92-302-8552254
E-mail: shakil.chaudhary@secp.gov.pk
Website: www.secp.gov.pk