The Pubali Bank Ltd has enhanced and streamlined its services to Bangladeshi expatriate workers in order to channel more remittances into the country, and will give more loans to the agriculture sector to boost the rural economy, said its top officials on Monday.
   ‘We have given extra emphasis to the bringing of more expatriate’s remittances into the country,’ said Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Pubali Bank, at a press conference.
   He said his bank has given more loans to agriculturists than any private commercial bank this year, and plans to provide more loans to the agriculture sector next year.
   Pubali Bank has brought Tk 3,000 crore as remittances into the country this year.
   The bank organised the press briefing on the eve of its 50th anniversary. The bank’s chairman, Hafiz Ahmed Majumdar MP, also spoke on the occasion.
   ‘We plan to give more loans to the marginal farmers in the rural areas from in the next fiscal year,’ said Helal Ahmed.
   He said the bank had disbursed Tk 200 crore as agriculture loans in the 2008 calendar year.
   ‘Pubali Bank plans more loans to agriculture through the local NGOs in the next fiscal year’ he added.
   Helal said the interest of Pubali’s agriculture loans is only 12.5 to 13 per cent.
   In response to a query he, however, admitted they had no power to lower the interest of agriculture loans which had been provided through the local NGOs to the rural people.
   The bank also revealed other plans, such as boosting retail banking and SME banking in 2009.
   ‘Though the bank’s business capital has risen from Tk 500 crore to Tk 7,500 crore, the number of its workers has remained more or less the same,’ Helal added.
   He said that Pubali Bank, which has the largest network in the private sector with 371 branches, has been serving its clients for a period of 50 years with its up-to-date attitude.
   The Bangladesh Bank has recently permitted it to launch 15 more branches this year as part of its growth programme.
   Of the 15 branches, two will be opened in Dhaka city, 3 in other cities and 10 in the rural areas.

Stocks remained nearly flat, thanks to poor show by banks, on the opening day of the week in a fluctuating market.
   Sunday’s trading witnessed losers slightly edge out gainers and market observers said poor performance of banks heavily influenced the day’s trading.
   ‘Most of the banks remained almost unchanged on Sunday...that mainly caused the market to behave this way, ‘ said Saiful Islam, the senior vice-president of Dhaka Stock Exchange.
   Banking shares make more than half of the market capitalisation on the twin bourses.
   He added that the gloomy trend was anticipated in the ‘post dividend phase’ of the market. Most bank shares edged down.
   The day turned out to be good one for non-banking financial institutions, though, with most scrips having hefty hikes.
   Profit-taking caused mutual funds, power and ICT shares to fall while fuel and energy shares rose.
   DSE’s benchmark general index or DGEN swung across the day. It ended lower by 6.82 points or 0.27 per cent to 2500.07.
   The DSI or all share price index finished at 2084.70, slipping 6.48 points or 0.31 per cent.
   The blue-chip DSE-20 fell 14.42 points or 0.74 per cent to finish on 1910.90.
   Losers beat gainers 131 to 109 while five issues remained unchanged.
   Turnover on the country’s premier bourse reached Tk 5.09 billion from the trading of 25,788,425 shares.
   Summit Power emerged the turnover leader with shares worth Tk 623.313 million traded. It lost 7 per cent to Tk 1221.75 on profit-taking.
   Beximco followed with a turnover of Tk 526.403 million to rise 5.64 per cent on Tk 308.60.
   S Alam Cold Rolled Steels ended on Tk 806.50, surging 9.83 per cent. It had shares worth Tk 345.931 million changing hands.
   Beximco Pharmaceuti-cals Ltd had Tk 263.257 million in turnover and ended on Tk 159.30, up 4.80 per cent.
   Eastern Housing Ltd saw Tk 245.247 million worth shares changing hands to rise 4.63 per cent and closed at Tk 807.25.
   The other scrips on the turnover board — Titas Gas, Bextex Ltd, Lanka Bangla Finance, Aftab Automobiles and Shinepukur Ceramics — finished higher due to buying pressure.
   Huge losses in energy and mutual funds caused the Chittagong Stock Exchange to end almost flat.
   The indices except the blue chip ones slightly rose, because of the gains in engineering, real estate and insurances.
   The CSCX or selective categories index edged up 12.81 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 5322.30.
   The CASPI or all share price index ended on 8207.02, up by 16.50 points or 0.20 per cent.
   The CSE-30 blue chip however, lost 28.15 points or 0.44 per cent to finish at 6346.54.
   Of the traded issues, 82 declined, 71 advanced and six scrips held steady.
   Turnover amounted to Tk 599.286 million through 4,253,894 shares changing hands.
   Beximco Pharmaceuti-cals topped the turnover board, with shares worth Tk 81.15 million changing hands.
   Summit Power, Beximco Ltd, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels and AB Bank were the other turnover leaders.

Victor Lin wants an iPhone, but he’s put off by the price. The smartphone costs at least $199 up front, and if he wants unlimited Web and e-mail access in addition to calling, he’ll need to pay an additional $70 a month.
   ‘I like the idea of having a full-featured Web browser,’ says Lin, a 43-year-old San Francisco software engineer. ‘However, I think the monthly fee is a little bit too high.’
   AT&T may have gotten the message. The exclusive US iPhone service provider is considering cutting the price of its monthly service package or offering a range of lower-priced plans, say people with knowledge of the company’s thinking. One plan that could be introduced as early as late May would include limited data access at a $10 monthly reduction, the people say, reports BusinessWeek Online.
   The possible price cut likely reflects the back-and-forth between AT&T and Apple as they work out whether and under what terms AT&T would remain the sole US iPhone carrier. Apple may want flexibility in pricing as a condition, analysts say. ‘We understand it’s part of the extension (of its contract) that AT&T wants to maintain,’ Richard Doherty, director at consultant Envisioneering Group, says of the prospect of lower data-plan prices.
   As Apple considers whether to widen its circle of US providers, AT&T may have less ability to balk at Apple’s requests. Representatives of Apple and AT&T declined to comment.
   AT&T and Apple also have added scope for price reductions as iPhone manufacturing costs decline. Apple plans to introduce a new version of iPhone software in June, and it may unveil a new, cheaper device in June or July. New devices may cost as much as one-third less to produce than earlier versions, Doherty says.
   The cost of touch screens, the most expensive component, has declined by more than 30 per cent in the past year, estimates Michael Cote, an analyst at consultant Cote Collaborative Wireless Strategy.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange has slapped fine on eleven companies as they did not submit to the bourse audited financial reports for the year ended on December 31, 2008 within stipulated time.
   The defaulting companies are Saleh Carpet, Sreepur Textile, Wata Chemicals, Federal Insurance, German-Bangla Food, Padma Printers, Bemco, Bangladesh Leaf Tobacco, CMC Kamal, Maq Paper and Standard Insurance, said an official of the DSE.
   He said the companies each would have to pay Tk 500 for each day till they submitted the reports.
   The DSE official said the listed companies, which follow January-December financial year, were scheduled to submit the audited financial reports within May 14. But the eleven companies failed to do so within the stipulated time, he added.
   Last year, the number of defaulting companies in submitting audited accounts was seven.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will try its best to have a capital-market-friendly budget, said the SEC chairman, Ziaul Haque Khondker, on Monday.
   ‘We will give our utmost effort to have a national budget which will reflect the interest of the country’s capital market,’ he said while top officials of Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange made courtesy visits to the newly-appointed SEC chairman at his office.
   Concerted efforts by all the stakeholders of the capital market are required to make the stock market a transparent and investment-friendly place, he said.
   DSE president Rakibur Rahman led the DSE delegation. CSE delegation was led by its president Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury.

CardExpo-2009, an exposition of banking cards aimed at promoting usage of debit card, credit card and other card-based banking products and services, will be held in Dhaka in June 12-13.
   EventPro, an event management firm, will for the first time organise the two-day exposition at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, a news release said.
   Twenty-five banks having card services will be showcasing their card-based products and services in 30 stalls and pavilions to highlight benefits of using cards.
   The exposition will remain open for visitors from 10:00am to 8:00pm everyday during the exposition. Side by side sales and display, this CardExpo-2009 will also have seminar and open discussion on different topics related to banking cards.

Emirates Airline recently announced an additional 12 flights per week to major travel hubs in Middle East, bringing the airline’s total number of weekly flights across the region to 197.
   Effective from July 1, the 12 additional flights will serve five major Middle East cities — Kuwait, Amman, Damascus, Sanaa and Doha, a news release said.

The International Chamber of Commerce, France has selected again Md Bakhteyer Hossain, vice-president and head of correspondent banking, Mutual Trust Bank, as a member of the panel of experts for ICC DOCDEX services.
   Bakhteyer is the first Bangladeshi banker to be selected as a member of the panel in 2005, a news release said.
   Bakhteyer joined MTB in 1999 after completing his probationary training in Agrani Bank.

Citibank, NA Bangladesh with the help of Citi Centre for Advanced Learning, Philippines organised a five-day comprehensive training programme on ‘Credit risk analytics’ in May 12-16 in Dhaka.
   The course, attended by 35 Citi officials and facilitated by international faculties and experts, provided an intensive and practical review of financial statements, credit evaluation and risk analysis techniques for bankers, a news release said.
   Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui distributed certificates to all participants as chief guest on the concluding session.
   Citi managing director and country officer Mamun Rashid was present.

Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder has been re-elected chairman of the Pubali Bank board of directors at its 71st board meeting held in Dhaka recently.
   An eminent industrialist, Hafiz Ahmed, is a member of the current parliament and tea planter. He has established ‘Hafiz Mazumder Education Trust’ to provide financial assistance to build new schools and colleges, a news release said.

But in Mumbai, trading on the Sensex was suspended after shares surged more than 17 per cent following a surprisingly clear victory for the ruling Congress-led alliance in general elections announced at the weekend.
   The 30-share Sensex closed up 2,099.21 points — the biggest gain since the index was launched in 1986 — to 14,272.63.
   Tokyo lost 2.44 per cent as the number of confirmed swine flu cases soared to 135, raising fears economic activity will be hit. The market was also damaged by a stronger yen, which hurts exporters.
   However, Hong Kong put on 1.38 per cent, helped by a strong show in Shanghai, which added 0.28 per cent.
   Regional markets had opened lower as they followed Wall Street, which shed 0.75 per cent on lacklustre economic data and news that General Motors plans a major cut in the number of its dealers.
   Down 2.44 per cent, the Nikkei-225 lost 226.33 points to end at 9,038.69.
   The market was hit by weak corporate earnings last week, dealers said.
   The yen rose to a two-month high against the dollar. The greenback traded below 95 yen, a key level at which most exporters have based their earnings outlooks for the fiscal year.
   Sony fell 5.83 percent to 2,420 yen. Panasonic slumped 7.62 per cent to 1,344 yen.
   Mizuho Financial lost 3.79 per cent to 228.
   Up 1.38 per cent, the Hang Seng Index ended up 232.21 points at 17,022.91.
   The index has gained 9.7 per cent since the beginning of the month.
   The gains came despite figures Friday showing Hong Kong’s economy contracted 7.8 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, worse than the previous quarter’s 2.6 per cent fall, on plunging exports and weak private consumption.
   Up 0.28 per cent, the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 7.52 points at 2,652.78.
   China Yangtze Power rose 4.1 per cent to 14.94 yuan after hitting its 10 per cent daily limit in the session.
   China Merchants Bank dropped 0.8 per cent to 17.03 yuan. China Vanke was 2.5 per cent lower at 10.15 yuan.

Continental Insurance
   The company has informed that its AGM will be held on August 16, 2009 at 11:00am at BIAM Foundation in Dhaka.
   
   Trust Bank
   The bank has informed that the 10th AGM of the bank will be held on May 31, 2009 at 11:00am at Bashundhara Convention Centre in Dhaka.
   
   BSC
   Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the Spot Market and Block/Odd lot transactions will also be settled today and tomorrow as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on May 21, 2009 as Book Closure will start from May 24, 2009.
   
   Aftab Automobiles
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain halted for market enquiry as the company failed to submit any document/application to the exchange regarding direct listing of Navana CNG Ltd within their committed time limit. It is to be noted here that the company earlier informed to the exchange about direct listing of Navana CNG Ltd as price sensitive information.
   
   National Polymer
   In response to a DSE query, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   Source: DSE

Trading in Indian shares was suspended on Monday as stock prices saw a record surge on the back of the Congress-led alliance’s strong election win that analysts saw as boosting economic reform.
   Stock exchange officials said trading was halted for the day after rocketing share prices clicked through a series of circuit breakers before breaching the permitted upper limit.
   The benchmark 30-share Sensex closed up 17.24 per cent or 2,099.21 points — the biggest gain since the index was launched in 1986 — to 14,272.63, in what turned out to be a sharply truncated trading day.
   An initial two-hour stoppage had failed to cool sentiment, and exchange officials said the closing figure would likely be revised upwards, as prices did not reflect full updates due to a system overload.
   ‘This is unprecedented bull trading. We could run the risk of over-heating,’ said Bhaskar Kapadia, partner with Pyramid Securities.
   Several retail investors keen to buy stocks were just unable to do so, he said.
   Property, banking and engineering stocks surged, as investors expected the Congress party to push for reforms in these sectors to boost economic growth.
   ‘This was the big bang event that investors were looking for. Political uncertainty has completely eased with the Congress party emerging as the single largest party,’ said Hitesh Agrawal, head of research with Angel Broking.
   ‘We expect the government to have greater flexibility to boost economic reform and growth from here on,’ he said.
   Confounding expectations of a close result and a fractured parliament, the alliance won a projected 260 seats at the weekend — a mandate nobody had predicted when voting began last month.
   ‘The most positive news from the elections is that the roadblock to reforms — the communist parties — were trounced,’ said Apurva Shah, head of research with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.
   Fund managers expect the markets to surge by another 20 per cent in coming weeks, against a backdrop of better-than-expected fourth quarter corporate earnings, which ended March.
   The Sensex has already risen more than 50 per cent from its low of 8,079 in early March on signs of the global downturn easing.
   The surge bucked a downward trend on other Asian stock markets which slipped Monday on fresh concerns over the US economy.
   The rupee rose against the dollar to 48.16 from 49.55 on hopes of stronger foreign fund inflows, and also firmed up against the euro to 64.79 from 67.38.
   The rupee, which has risen in recent weeks, had earlier been under pressure for months on concerns about foreign fund outflows, as investment funds moved money into safer havens.
   ‘We expect to see reforms in the financial sector and pension funds and privatisation of state-run loss-making firms, which was on hold all this while,’ said Anand Mahajan at KPMG.
   Bankers also expect India’s corporates to commence raising fresh capital, which had largely stalled due to the global slowdown and a local credit squeeze in recent months.
   ‘We expect India’s corporates to start raising funds and re-look at expansion plans,’ said Anoop Agrawal, vice-president of Jefferies India, the local arm of the US-based investment bank.
   Tushar Poddar of Goldman Sachs said the election results may help India ‘decouple’ further from the global economy by giving a fillip to domestic demand.
   ‘There is now an upside risk to our GDP growth forecast of 5.8 per cent for the year to March 2010, he said in a note to clients.
   India’s growth is estimated to have slowed to almost six per cent, after growing by more than nine-per cent in the previous three years.

Britain’s state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group said Monday that it will issue new shares to raise 4.0 billion pounds (6.0 billion dollars) so as to pay back public bailout funds.
   The rights issue, worth the equivalent of 4.5 billion euros, will be launched on Wednesday and is underwritten by the state, the bank said in a statement.
   The news comes one day after LBG chairman Victor Blank said he would step down from his post by June 2010. Blank was sharply criticised for his role in Lloyds TSB’s takeover of rival lender HBOS which was saddled with billions in toxic assets that have had to be covered by government money.
   ‘Lloyds Banking Group confirms that it has agreed with HM Treasury to launch the previously-announced placing and open offer on 20 May, 2009,’ Lloyds said.
   ‘The proceeds from the placing and open offer will be used to redeem the 4.0 billion pounds of preference shares held by (the government).’
   Under the terms of the offer, current shareholders can subscribe for 0.6213 new ordinary shares for every ordinary share they already own based on a price of 38.43 pence for each new year.
   This price represents a discount of almost 57 per cent to Lloyds’ closing share price on Friday. More details will be given on Wednesday while shareholders will vote on the plans in early June.
   The British government owns around 43 per cent of Lloyds Banking Group and could end up owning as much as 65 per cent if other shareholders reject the new shares issue.
   In Monday morning trade, LBG shares rallied 3.25 per cent to 92.10 pence as investors welcomed news over the weekend that Blank would step down next year.
   The Financial Times business newspaper reported Monday that former Citigroup chairman Win Bischoff and ex-Standard Chartered chairman Mervyn Davies were both in the running to replace Blank.
   HBOS bank faced potential collapse last year as it struggled to raise funds due to the credit crunch and had to be bailed out by the government.

Toyota rolled out the revamped Prius on Monday, and said it already had 80,000 advance orders in Japan for the remodelled hybrid amid intensifying competition with Honda’s rival offering, the Insight.
   The world’s largest automaker said it aims to sell up to 4,00,000 units globally a year of the car.
   ‘We are resting the future of cars in this model,’ said incoming president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, who drove the new model onto a stage at a packed Tokyo showroom.
   Both Toyoda’s presence and the new Prius are symbolic of Toyota Motor Corp’s pursuit of a turnaround from its worst annual loss since its 1937 founding.
   The Prius, now in its third generation since its 1997 introduction, is the best-selling gas-electric hybrid in the world, racking up a cumulative 1.256 million units sold in more than 40 nations and regions. The new Prius will be sold in 80 nations and regions, Toyoda said.
   But now Toyota faces a challenge from Honda Motor Co., whose more cheaply priced Insight has sold briskly since it was introduced in Japan in February. In April, the Insight ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Japan — the first time a hybrid clinched that spot.
   Toyota said its Japan prices for the Prius would start at 2.05 million yen, or about $21,600, less than its predecessor model’s Japan base price.
   But in an unusual move aimed at competing against the Insight, Toyota also said it will continue to sell the current Prius in Japan — mainly to corporate and rental customers — and cut its price to 1.89 million yen, the same price as the Insight.
   In Japan, Toyota is hoping to sell 10,000 of the new Prius a month, and an additional 2,000 of the cheaper old-style Prius.
   The Japanese government is offering incentives to encourage people to buy green cars, which is expected to help the Insight and Prius sales here.
   Christopher J Richter, senior analyst with Calyon Capital Markets Asia in Tokyo, said Toyota may be making a mistake by competing with Insight’s price because the Prius is a much bigger car than the Insight compact and gets better mileage.
   Richter also noted that Toyota faces some challenges in selling the Prius not only because of the competition from the Insight but because of the global slowdown and a decline in oil prices.
   Ravaged by a global slump, tight credit in the critical US market and the strong yen, Toyota racked up a larger-than-expected 436.94 billion yen ($4.4b) loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, a dramatic reversal from the record profit of 1.72 trillion yen it earned the previous year.

Hard economic times are hitting the United States’ youngest citizens, threatening to roll back decades worth of gains in health, safety and education, according to a report released on Monday.
   It suggests the country’s most severe recession in a generation, which has cost more than 5 million American jobs since it began in late 2007, is having a drastic impact on children.
   ‘Our projections show that virtually all the progress made in family economic well-being since 1975 will be wiped out,’ Ken Land of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues wrote in 2009 Child Well-Being Index and Special Focus Report.
   The annual report, sponsored by the Foundation for Child Development, a private child advocacy group, measures economic, health, safety and social factors affecting children and teens.
   Based on current estimates, the report projects that the current recession will pare median annual family incomes back to $55,700 by 2010, down from $59,200 in 2007.
   Households run by single women will see their annual incomes fall to $23,000 in 2010, down from $24,950 in 2007.
   But the steepest drop will be among single households headed by men, where median annual family income is expected to drop to $33,300 in 2010, from $38,100 in 2007.
   These declines in family income will affect many other aspects of life for children in America.
   ‘Many families that have built a life around two-earner incomes now have one income or perhaps no income, so children in those families are being impacted by the current economic environment,’ Land said in a telephone interview.
   He said the percentage of children in poverty will rise to 21 per cent in 2010, up from about 17 per cent in 2006.
   The researchers said the housing crisis will disrupt social relationships for children, as job losses cause families to uproot in search of work and less-costly housing. Many families are at greater risk of homelessness.
   Children’s health also will suffer, they said.
   They foresee increases in an already growing obesity epidemic as parents turn to cheap fast food to feed their families.
   One bright spot, they said, is the State Children’s Health Insurance Programme, which will at least ensure that many poor children get needed health care.

Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited opened its 35th branch at College Gate in Dhaka recently.
   The founder chairman of the bank, Sajjatuz Jumma, inaugurated the branch while chairman Akkas Uddin Mollah, managing director Mohammad Ali, directors and senior officials were present, a news release said.
   The managing director gave a brief on the bank’s deposit and investment schemes. He said the bank had become one of the best banks within a short period due to proper guidelines set by the board of directors and also because of dedication and sincerity of the bank staff.

A convention was organised by Dhaka Ice Cream industries Limited, the manufacturer of Polar Ice Cream, for its Dhaka South and West zone distributors on Sunday.
   Dhaka Ice Cream managing director Nazim Uddin Ahmed, chief operating office Taufiqur Rahman, general manager (factory) Akhtaruzzaman, head of sales and distribution SM Mamtazul Islam and head of engineering Md Kamruzzaman addressed the programme, among others, a news release said.
   Regional managers and distributors of Dhaka South and West zones were present on the occasion.