Karachi, April 27: Arif Habib Securities Limited (AHSL) announced bonus issue for the shareholders at 200 per cent (two shares for every one share held) for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

The company said in a press release issued on Friday that the bonus was in addition to the interim cash dividend and two bonus issues declared earlier during this financial year.

“The cumulative bonus declared for this financial year amounts to 1,111 per cent or over eleven times,” the company said, claiming the distribution as an “all time record’ for any company local or multinational, listed on the stock exchanges.”

AHSL posted profit after tax at Rs440 million in the third quarter ended March 31, including which the after tax profit aggregated to Rs2.5 billion for the nine months ended March 31 2007.

The profit translates into a basic and diluted earning per share of Rs4.40 and Rs25.07, respectively, calculated on the enhanced capital of Rs1 billion compared to Rs270 million for the corresponding period last year.

The company stated that considering continuous economic growth at a good pace, the corporate sector and the capital markets were expected to remain major beneficiaries. “In view of this and the proposed merger of the company with and into Arif Habib Rupali Bank, the shareholders of both these entities can expect to continue witness addition to the value of their investment,” the company statement said.