SOHAIL SARFRAZ

ISLAMABAD: New capital of Rs10.161 billion has been listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as compared to Rs5.015 billion in 2017-2018.

According to the Annual Report (2019) issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Friday, fiscal year 2018-19 was overall a challenging year for the markets.

The year initially witnessed a steady decline followed by partial recovery that lost its impact towards the end.

The KSE-100 Index began the year at 41,910.90 points and ended at 33,901.58 on June 28, 2019, recorded a decrease of almost 19 percent since the beginning of the year.

The market touched its lowest level, 32,354.06 on May 20, 2019, and recorded its highest level of 43,638.77 on July 31, 2018.

The average daily turnover was 155.205 million shares and 36.8 million shares in ready and futures market, respectively.

A total of 544 companies with accumulated paid up capital of Rs1,340.2698 billion are listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange as on June 30, 2019 with a market capitalization of Rs6,887.301 billion, reflecting an approximately 21 percent decline in market capitalization compared to last year.

Foreign investment in the stock market exhibited a net outflow of $355.953 million during the year, which reflects a negative 26 percent compared to the last year, the SECP said,

Despite all the turbulence, settlements have been executed in a timely manner that depicts strength of risk management in capital market.

During the FY 2018-19, new capital of Rs10.161 billion has been listed on the PSX as compared to Rs5.015 billion in FY 2017-18.

During the year, M/s Interloop Limited has raised Rs5.02 billion from the capital market making it the largest ever private sector IPO, the SECP added.

During the year, the SECP registered 14,461 new companies, 27 percent higher as compared to the last financial year.

Out of the new companies registered, approximately, 73 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, 24 percent as single member companies and three percent were registered as public companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies or limited liability partnerships.

This year, around 93 percent companies registered online and 54 percent registered within same day.

Total number of registered companies as of June 30, 2019 were 101, 328.

The SECP stated that during the financial year 2018-2019, the SECP has issued 53 licenses to not-for-profit associations under Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, with objects of arts, sports, social services, charity etc.

Besides, licenses of 13 not-for-profit associations have been renewed, while licenses of 35 not-for-profit associations were revoked due to non-compliance.

On June 30, 2019, the asset size of the NBF sector stood at Rs1,140 billion as compared to Rs1,228 billion reported as on June 30, 2018, reflecting an overall decrease of 7.15 percent.

As of June 30, 2019, the Shariah compliant assets of the NBFI sector of Pakistan were Rs340.03 billion, which represents 29.9 percent of the entire NBFI sector.

Total asset size of mutual funds is Rs577.64 billion of which the share of Shariah compliant mutual funds is 39 percent.

Since 2010, growth of Shariah compliant mutual funds is 892.59 percent as compared to 64.11 percent for conventional mutual funds.

Asset size of pension funds is Rs26.498 billion of which the share of Shariah compliant pension funds is 64 percent, the SECP data revealed.

Takaful’s share in the overall insurance market is also increasing each year. In 2016, share of Takaful in terms of gross premium was 6.9 percent of the total industry premium, compared to 10.22 percent in the year 2018.

Out of total 542 companies listed on PSX, around 250 are Shariah compliant companies, which is 46 percent of the PSX listed companies.

As of December 31, 2018, in corporate debt market, the total value of outstanding Sukuk is Rs498 billion, which represents 77 percent of the total corporate debt, the SECP added.

During FY 2019, the department examined 231 annual audited financial statements of listed companies and their associated undertakings having intercompany transactions.

Where warranted, explanations were sought to check compliance of various provisions of the Act and administered laws, and proceedings were initiated in cases of identified violations, the SECP added.