LAHORE: Warid Telecom and Bank Alfalah commercially launched branchless banking service ‘Mobile Paisa’ on Thursday.

Talking to reporters, Warid Telecom’s CEO Muneer Farooqui said, “Our branchless banking brand is aimed at making mobile financial services effortless task for our consumers. In this era of modernisation and technical development, it is essential to digitise and enhance transacting convenience through a secure and swift system.”—Staff Reporter

Askari Bank announces 10pc cash dividend

KARACHI: Askari Bank reported a profit of Rs2.1 billion for the first half of this year, a press release said on Thursday. The bank also announced a 10 per cent interim cash dividend.

Net interest income increased by 43pc compared to the same period of 2013, while the non-interest income increased by 67pc “on the back of healthy growth in trade and business and gains from currency and stock market”.

The announcement of 10pc cash dividend has come after seven years as the last cash dividend was announced in 2007, the bank said.

Facebook shares hit record high

NEW YORK: Shares of Facebook Inc hit a record high on Thursday after a surge in mobile advertising revenue helped the world’s No. 1 social network trounce analysts’ expectations for quarterly profit and revenue.

The company’s shares, which touched a high of $76.74, were up 7 per cent at $76.31 by midday on the Nasdaq.

At that price, Facebook’s market value is just short of $200 billion, putting the company in position to overtake IBM Corp as the fourth-largest US-listed tech company.

The top three are Apple Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp. At least 28 brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, by as much as $15 to a high of $100.

At $100, Facebook would be valued at more than $250bn.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, July 25th , 2014