40 students conclude Ufone Internship

ISLAMABAD (PR): Ufone’s flagship Summer Internship Programme for 2018, that on-boarded 40 interns from 15 universities across Pakistan and had commenced on June 18th, successfully concluded on August 15th.

The internship programme is launched once every year, through which a limited number of students are placed within the organization for 6-8 weeks after undergoing a competitive and merit-based selection process. For their exceptional performance, interns received awards and giveaways. The Ufone leadership team acknowledged academia partners’ contribution in building the leaders of tomorrow. Commandant Brigadier Tariq and Dr Mohsin Tiwana from College of EME Nust, Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Dean and Principal, School of Social Sciences and Humanities Nust were present at the ceremony among the attendees.

Ufone President and CEO Rashid Khan applauded all interns during his address at the ceremony. He praised their dedication to learning and performance during the internship program. He told the interns that they as the youth are the future of Pakistan and advised them to pursue their professional journey with passion and hard-work. The 40 interns, who were selected out of a pool of more than 1500 students assessed from universities and colleges including Lums, Nust, Fast, Szabist, Bahria University, IM Sciences, KSBL LSE and GIKI, were placed on properly planned and conceived projects across Ufone offices in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

These projects aimed to hone the interns on their technical and vocational skills with respect to the departments they were placed in.Interns were placed in different departments including Finance, Commercial, Technology, HR, Sales and Development, Contracts and Procurement, Customer Operations and were provided with experiential learning, professional and personal development opportunities via tasks and assignments that are part of working in a corporate environment.

PSO reports 11pc increase in gross profit

KARACHI (PR): Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the leading energy company of Pakistan reviewed performance of the company for the financial year ended June 30, 2018 during its Board of Management (BoM) meeting at PSO Headquarters in Karachi.

The company reported an 11% increase in Gross Profit and a Profit-After-Tax (PAT) of Rs 15.5 billion in FY2018. The overall financial performance of the Company remained strong with an increase of 20% in Sales Revenue over last year to Rs 1.1 Trillion (FY2017: 0.9 Trillion). PSO increased its gross profit despite a steep decline in Black Oil demand by 29.6%. Reduction in markup received from PIBs due to their maturity in July 2017 by Rs 4.3 billion, and reversal of deferred tax asset due to decline in future corporate tax rates by Rs 1.3 billion are the main contributors in reduction of profit after tax by Rs 2.7 billion in FY2018.

Two Pakistanis participate in Telenor Youth Forum

ISLAMABAD (PR): Telenor Pakistan has selected Maieda Janjua, 22 from Islamabad and Asma Ladak, 20 from Karachi to participate in the sixth annual Telenor Youth Forum (TYF). In collaboration with the Nobel Peace Centre, TYF brings together a group of 16 young delegates from Asia and Europe and challenges these individuals to find ways to use digital technology to reduce inequalities and empower societies. Maieda Janjua, who graduated from Dartmouth last year with a degree in Computer Science, is currently interning in Telenor's "Data as a Service" team. While exploring the tech scene in Pakistan, she became interested in using technology for social good.  Asma Akbar Ladak who is a doctor in making at the Aga Khan University in Karachi realizes the importance of clean water.

Bank AL Habib declares Rs7.08b profit

KARACHI (PR): The Board of Directors of Bank AL Habib Limited (the Bank) announced the financial results of the Bank for the half year ended 30 June, 2018.

As per the results, the Bank declared pre-tax profit of Rs. 7.08 billion for the half year ended 30 June, 2018 as compared to Rs. 7.52 billion for the corresponding period. Profit after tax for the half year ended 30 June, 2018 was recorded at Rs. 4.20 billion against Rs. 4.41 billion for the corresponding period last year. Bank’s profit (excluding capital gains) grew by 35.36 percent compared to corresponding period last year. Earnings per Share (EPS) of the Bank were recorded at Rs. 3.78 per share.

MIGA issues $66m guarantees for Hyundai-Nishat Motors

LAHORE (PR): MIGA, a member of the World Bank Group, has issued guarantees worth $66million in support of the design, construction and operation of the Hyundai-Nishat Motor vehicle assembly plant in M3 Industrial City, Faisalabad.  The guarantees cover investments and loans guarantees extended by the Sojitz Corporation of Japan, a trading company, to Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited, a joint venture with the Nishat Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Pakistan, that is developing the facilities. The guarantees are issued for up to 15 years against political risks of transfer restriction, acts of expropriation, war and civil disturbance.

Once operations begin in 2020, the plant expects to assemble a range of Hyundai-brand vehicle models from passenger cars to light pickup trucks geared to general public, SMEs and other fleet running businesses. The plant will have the potential to achieve an annual production capacity of 30,000 vehicles.