June 04 - 10, 2001

State life southern region sector heads conference

State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLIC) has procured more than Rs. 20 crore and 68 lacs as first year premium uptill April 2001 as compared to Rs. 13 crore 82 lacs in the preceding year 2000. More than 25,000 new policies were sold during the period January-April 2001 as compared to 12,754 for the same period in 2000, this was told to the participants of State Life Southern Region Sector Heads Conference held recently.

Mr. Samee-ul-Hassan, Chairman, State Life in his inaugural address, said that right insurance policies and plans be marketed to the right prospect policyholders, that caters to the individual and family's financial needs. He informed that according to an actuarial study at least 7 to 8 premiums should be collected to earn profitable returns. He added that restructuring is being carried out at the corporation level to extend quality services to our valued policyholders and to procure set business targets according to insurance ordinance 2000.

Agha Ashraf Abbas the new Regional Chief welcomed the delegates of the Sector Heads Conference and said that State Life Southern Region will truly be made a model region for the whole corporation by achieving its commitments for procuring the quality business in both the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.

Earlier, Mr. Taseer Yousuf Makhdoom, Divisional Head (Marketing) informed that the corporation has paid Rs. 10 crore for 1764 maturity claims cases and Rs. 4 crore for 477 death claims cases during the period January-February 2001. He said that Management of the Corporation has taken vital decisions to restructure marketing force in order to provide optimum services to the valued policyholders and strengthen the marketing network nationwide. He congratulated Mr. Agha Ashraf Abbas on assuming the charge as Regional Chief Southern Region.

Pakistanishop.com

Nirala Sweets, ranking amongst the country's premier traditional sweets manufacturers, has recently further facilitated its customers, through a collaboration with Gerry's International.

With this collaboration in effect, a special web site has been developed by Gerry's International, called "Pakistanishop.com", whereby customers may simply log on and order what they require, which will be delivered by one of Gerry's divisions, FedEx.

18th Red & White Asian Snooker Championship 2001

The Karachi Sheraton Hotel & Towers will be the venue for the 18th Red & White Asian Snooker Championship 2001 that will take place from June 4-9 in the Darbar Halls. Participating in this prestigious championship are representatives from 20 Asian countries namely Bangladesh, China, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Wiraka and Pakistan, who will also be lodging at the 5-star hotel for the duration of the tournament.

Acnielsen Corporation and Aftab Associates

Aftab Associates Pvt. Ltd. and ACNielsen Corporation announced the finanlization of an agreement that will see the merger of all their Market Research activities into a new joint venture company, ACNielsen Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited.

This new company will trade under both the ACNielsen and Aftab trade names and will be known as ACNielsen Aftab.

Mr. H. Aftab Ahmad will be the Chief Executive of the new company and the management will include ACNielsen representatives. The new venture will be incorporated into ACNielsen's Emerging Markets division.

MCB's Annual Accounts of the year 2000.

The Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., the largest private bank in Pakistan, has shown an increase of 58.4 per cent in Operating Profits for the period ending December 31, 2000, as compared to the preceding year.

The Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd, registered an Operating Profit of over Rs. 2.483 billion for the last calendar year as compared to Rs. 1.567 billion during the year ending December 31, 1999.

The Board of Directors of Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., which met on Tuesday, 29th May 2001 evening in Lahore, reviewed and approved the financial results of year 2000 and noted the strong growth in operating profits, loans and deposits of the bank. It bank. It then approved and recommended to the shareholders an increase distribution of 27.5 per cent Dividend comprising 10 per cent Interim Bonus, 10 per cent Final Bonus and 7.5 per cent Cash Dividend. This compared favourably with the Profits distributed for the year 1999, which were 10 per cent Bonus and 15 per cent Cash Dividend.

In year 2000, Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., completed 10 years as a privately owned Commercial Bank. During this period Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., has emerged as a strong, professionally managed, independent and sound financial institution. Today MCB is regarded as the premier commercial bank leading in technology, giving a high return to its depositors with consistent growth in profits and increasing returns to its shareholders.

The Chairman, Mian Mohammad Mansha, commenting on the major achievements of the Bank informed the Board Members that MCB is increasing its leadership in providing ATM services to its valued customers through its nationwide network over 80 ATMs in 11 cities. Six foreign banks have joined MCB's M-Net switch which is a reflection of the internationally accepted standards maintained by the bank in technology. M-Net is now linked with Cirrus & Maestro enabling its customers to use MCB ATM cards anywhere in the world. The Chairman also informed the Board that the bank would continue to invest in technology to provide increasingly better service and more products to its customers. The Chairman further apprised the Board Members that the Bank was now strategically placed as a major provider of financial services, thereby maintaining its competitive edge.

The Board of Director expressed satisfaction on the performance of MCB, its strategy and congratulated the Chairman, Mian Mohammad Mansha and the President, Mr. Mohammed Aftab Manzoor for building a strong and coherent business strategy which has enabled the bank to become a major player in banking and financial services in times to come.

The Board of Director also appreciated the efforts of all its staff at all levels as part of the MCB team who individually and collectively have worked hard with a common objective to make MCB a strong bank and achieve increasingly excellent results year after year.

BOP earns record profit

The 11th Annual General Meeting of the Bank was held in P.C. Hotel, Lahore recently, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Tariq Sultan. Mr. Mohammad Saleem Jan, Managing Director, Directors, Senior Executives and a large number of Shareholders attended the meeting. The Banks performance was reviewed and the Annual Accounts for the year ending December 31, 2000 were approved.

During the year the Bank earned a pre tax profit of Rs. 319.639(M) showing an increase of 156% over last year. The pre-provision and pre-tax adjusted profit was Rs. 462.698(M) against last year's figure of Rs. 205.969(M). The Equity base also increased to Rs. 2,179.558(M) from Rs. 1,823.154(M) with Reserves increasing from Rs. 971.049(M) to Rs. 1,327.231(M). Investments also increased from 4,490.619(M) in 1999 to Rs. 7,865.794(M) as at 31.12.2000.

Deposits stood at Rs. 17,028.412(M) showing a substantial increase despite intense competition in the financial sector. The Foreign Trade Business also registered satisfactory growth.

The per share earning increased to Rs. 1.85 from last year's figure of Rs. 0.33. The Bank was also able to maintain the Capital Adequacy Ratio well above the standard requirement of 8%.

The shareholders appreciated the Banks performance and approved the payment of stock dividend @ 15%.

The retiring auditors M/S A. F. Ferguson & Co. Chartered Accountants being eligible have been re-appointed for the year ending December 31, 2001.

The following were elected as Directors of the Bank for a 03-year term.

Sh. Muhammad Asif; Mr. Shahzad Ali Malik; Mr. Nazir Ahmed Peracha; Mr. T.M. Sheikh.