April 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429

KARACHI, April 29: The financial results from companies came pouring in the stock exchange during all of the session on Tuesday.

More than a hundred companies rushed in to declare their performance in numbers on the second last day of the first month of the current reporting season for the quarter ended March 31.

In the trading session that spans over 240 minutes during a day, an investor said he pitied the announcer who had to rise every three minutes to announce on the public address system, the latest incoming results.

The work gets to be more tedious as the bourse is required to make any notice coming from companies public within two minutes of its receipt.

Some of the companies with briskly traded stocks that came up with their financial numbers included the following: National Bank of Pakistan; ICI Pakistan; Hubco; PTCL; Fauji Cement; Meezan Bank; Dewan Salman Fibre; Dewan Farooque Motors; Azgard Nine; Siemens Pakistan Engineering; American Life and so on.

Interestingly, the board of directors of Hub Power Company (Hubco) which met in Istanbul conveyed that they had approved the un-audited financial results for the third quarter ended March 31.

The company simply stated that no interim dividend had been declared but did not unveil the financial figures.

The reason for the omission was not mentioned by the company in its one-page despatch to the stock market, but an investor in a lighter vein quipped: “Istanbul is far away, so it may take some time to reach the numbers.”

ACQUISITION: KASB Capital Limited, the local partner of Merrill Lynch, announced on Tuesday that it had acquired “an equity stake” in Shakarganj Food Products Limited.

The company, however, did not specify how much of the equity was taken over by the brokerage-to-investment banking firm.

Shakarganj Food Products Limited (SFPL) is involved in the manufacturing and distribution of dairy and juice products.

Both KASB Capital Limited and Shakarganj Food Products Limited are unlisted companies.

An offshoot of Shakarganj Mills Limited, the SFPL flagship brand was stated to be “Good Milk”, launched in 2006.