May 21, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1424

LAHORE, May 20: The NIT’s profits for the first three quarters of the current fiscal year ended on March 31 have grown by 28.2 per cent to Rs2.161 billion from Rs1.685 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, NIT chairman Tariq Iqbal Khan said balance sheet size had also increased with a 47 per cent rise in unit holders’ funds to Rs25.6 billion in nine months from last year’s total Rs17.4 billion.

He said the income per unit of Rs1.46 earned in the first three quarters of 2002-03 had already exceeded the full year per unit income of Rs1.22 earned last year and the fund had once again outperformed the KSE-100 index by 4.6 per cent during this period.

Khan said NIT’s dividend income had grown by 10.9 per cent to Rs1.827 billion from Rs1.648 billion during the first nine months of the year.

Capital gains realized have shown an even stronger growth of 35.1 per cent to Rs627 million during the three quarters from Rs464 million during the corresponding period the previous year.

Meanwhile, the per unit Net Asset Value (NAV) of NIT has increased by 59.9 per cent from Rs10.99 on July 11, 2002 (the first day following book closure) to Rs17.24 on March 31, 2003. As against it, the KSE-100 index rose by 52.3 per cent during the same period.

NIT is currently offering a discount of 25 paisa per unit to all its customers buying NIT units till May 24.

Khan said NIT would increase its investment in term finance certificates in the coming days to offset the impact of a sudden fall in the market as well as to maintain its NAV in such an eventuality.

ICP: Khan, who also holds the additional charge of ICP, said ICP had reported income of Rs1.415 billion during the first three quarters of the current year against Rs373 million in the same period last year. He said the ICP had earned Rs1.264 billion on account of sale proceeds of mutual funds in three lots.

He said the corporation had been in the grip of severe liquidity constraints due to continuous losses during the last three years and had to resort to bank borrowing which deteriorated its financial position on account of mounting debt burden.

He said the efforts had also been intensified to enhance recoveries from non-performing loans. “This policy has paid dividends as the ICP recorded appreciable amount of net profit at Rs1.238 billion before provisions.

After taking into account the provisions, mainly consisting of Rs600 million on account of severance package offered to all its employees including final payment to pensioners, the net profit was reported at Rs660 million.” He said ICP’s total liabilities stood at Rs1.6 billion to the central bank and the government.

He said the corporation would have assets worth Rs2.5 billion at the end of this fiscal year with the equity standing at Rs1.243 billion.

The corporation has relieved 200 employees and retained a staff of 70 people till the final decision on the fate of the corporation and modus operandi for its winding up.

The corporation has also managed to pay entire short-term liabilities and retire the term deposits.

APP ADDS: The NIT chairman said that the trust will be privatized only after the sell-out of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

“The privatization of the PSO will help NIT retrieve its investment in PSO which presently accounts for about 13.5 per cent shares of the state-run oil distribution company,” he added.