Important News

PAKISTAN

Breakfast Bite! Thursday, July 02, 2009

Suroor Investment acquires Arif Habib Bank Suroor Investment Ltd. a Mauritius based company is acquiring 297.034 mn shares or 59.5% stake in Arif Habib Bank Limited (AHBL) at a price of PkR9.0 per share. AHBL has an equity of PkR 5.85 bn translating into book value of PkR 11.70 per share, trading at P/B multiple of 0.6. AHBL has a paid up capital of PkR 5.0 bn where State Bank has set the target of Minimum Capital requirement of PkR 6 billion till end December 2009. According to acquisition rules revised recently, the acquirer is required to have holding between 62.5% to 85% therefore, Suroor Investment would take up additional holding required to complete the acquisition from the market through a tender offer.

Silk Bank, Atlas Bank merger dropped The plan of merger of Silk Bank (formerly Saudi Pak Commercial Bank) and Atlas Bank Ltd. has been dropped. This is mutually decided by the management of the two banks for the merger might not satisfy the long term plans of the banks.

Market Outlook The market is expected to gain momentum, marked by improving volumes. An amount of USD 500 mn has been received from the Asian Development Bank on account of economic stability which would improve the reserve situation of the country. Positive sentiment driver for the market.

Alfalah Securities Research; [email protected]; (9221) 9217825-26 This report has been prepared by Alfalah Securities (Pvt.) Limited “Alfalah Securities” based on the information and opinions that has been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable and in good faith. Such information has not been independently verified and no guarantee, representation or warranty, express or implied is made as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. All such information and opinions are subject to change without notice. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the facts stated are accurate and the opinions given are fair and reasonable, neither Alfalah Securities nor any director, officer, employee, group company, affiliate, or sponsor shall in anyway be responsible for the contents. Alfalah may trade as a market maker in the investments that are the subject of this document or in related investments and may have acted upon or used the information contained in this document, or the research or analysis on which it is based, before its publication. Alfalah Securities, its directors, officers, employees, group companies, affiliates, or sponsors may also have a position or be otherwise interested in the investments referred to this document. This is not an offer to buy or sell the investments referred to in this document. This document may not be reproduced, distributed or published for any purposes.