February 11, 2006	Saturday	Muharram 12, 1427

KARACHI, Feb 10: ABAMCO Limited that holds Rs26.50 billion under its management -– the highest in the private sector — announced results for the second quarter of its 10 (five open-end and five closed-end) funds on Friday.

A press release issued by the company stated that during the half year ended Dec 31, 2005, net assets under management of the company increased by 43.64 per cent. It said that ABAMCO Capital Fund (ACF), ABAMCO Stock Market Fund (ASMF) and ABAMCO Growth Fund (AGF) had earned Rs819m, Rs345m and Rs175m, respectively, which translated into earning per certificate (EPC) of Rs4.03, Rs3.94 and Rs6.36. On the basis of NAV appreciation, the fund returned 28.27 per cent, 25.88 per cent and 20.28 per cent, respectively, and on the basis of appreciation in market price, the return comes to 36 per cent, 60.80 per cent and 41.27 per cent.

The company observed that since the certificate holders of ASMF, AGF and ACF had approved amalgamation of the three funds into UTP-Growth Fund, the interim dividend would be paid out of the accumulated profit of UTP-Growth Fund after completion of the formalities of amalgamation. “The announcement in this regard would be made immediately after the completion of amalgamation formalities,” the company stated.

The company noted that ABAMCO Composite Fund had announced interim cash dividend of Rs576m for income earned till Dec 31, 2005; cash dividend announced at 17.5 per cent implies annualized current yield of 36.35 per cent. Fund’s total return for the period was 29.45 per cent on the basis of NAV and 40.58 per cent in terms of the market price change; the fund’s earning per certificate stood at Rs2.90.

BSJS Balanced Fund declared an interim cash dividend of Rs207.5 million at 17.5 per cent, delivering annualized current yield of 25.71 per cent for the half year. On the basis of NAV appreciation, returns for the fund stood at 23.21 per cent, while on market price it worked out at 60.61 per cent. Earnings of the fund amounted to Rs358m, yielding earning per certificate at Rs3.02.

In the open-end fund category, Unit Trust of Pakistan (UTP) posted earnings of Rs765.5 million, including unrealized income which worked out at Rs1,857.72 per unit. The fund generated return of 28.04 per cent. The earnings of Fixed Income Fund, UTP-Income Fund and its Shariah Compliant Fund, UTP-Islamic Fund, including unrealized gain of investments, stood at Rs118.84m and Rs164.4m respectively, translating into per unit gains of Rs28.39 and Rs168.90.

UTP-Aggressive Asset Allocation Fund, launched on June 28, 2005, showed accumulated earnings of Rs1,489 million for two quarters, reflecting gain of Rs36.25 per unit. Total return for the period stood at 76.92 per cent. And finally, UTP-Fund of Funds, launched on Oct 31, 2005, posted earnings of Rs18.8 million, translating into earning per unit at Rs5.97. Its return stood at 12.24 per cent for 64 days of working.