News

MCB Bank quarterly income rises 12pc

MCB Bank Ltd posted unconsolidated earnings of Rs8.7 billion in July-September, up 11.7 per cent from a year ago. A stock filing showed on Wednesday the bank announced a third interim cash dividend of Rs5 per share, bringing the total cash dividend for the nine months of 2022 to Rs14 per share. A press release issued by the bank said its profit-before-tax for the first nine months of 2022 in

Lucky Cement profit rises

Unconso­li­dated earnings of Lucky Cement Ltd grew 17 per cent year-on-year in July-Septe­mber to Rs3.8 billion, a stock notice showed on Thursday. The company didn’t announce a dividend. The Hub Power Company Ltd said its consolidated net income for July-September remained Rs9.1bn, up 23pc from a year ago. It didn’t declare any dividend, although the independent power producer already pa

Concern expressed over backtracking on ‘digital Pakistan’ commitments

Pakistan is diverting away from its earlier commitments for ‘digital Pakistan’ and there is an urgent need to connect more people for a resilient digital society, GSMA Asia Pacific head Julian Gorman said on Thursday. GSMA, an association of global mobile network operators, had been expressing concern over policy shifts by the government regarding the telecom sector, leading to high cost of doi

Rupee extends losses despite $1.5bn inflow

Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $157 million during the week ended on Oct 21, but an inflow of $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank elevated the reserves level. However, the US dollar remained in high demand in the interbank market as a result it appreciated by 81 paise against the rupee despite a massive inflow from the ADB. The greenback closing p

SBP chief assures market of timely foreign debt repayments

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Thursday the country will meet all foreign debt obligations on time. “There should be no concern about that,” he said while speaking at a gong-ringing ceremony at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The risk of sovereign default hit its highest level since November 2009 early this week. The country’s five-year credit default swap (CDS