GOVERNMENT TO GET RS 5.65 BILLION THROUGH IPO OF PAKISTAN PETROLEUM LIMITED SHARES-Hafeez Shaikh

Islamabad, July 07, 2004

The Government will get Rs.5.65 billion proceeds through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) shares Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Federal minister for Privatisation & Investment stated this while addressing the first road show for the IPO of PPL shares here today.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said that the launching of PPL shares would mark a turning point in the country's Privatisation Program. We want to sell the national assets at right price and while benefiting the common man the efforts are made to offer the shares on discounted price, he added and said that PPL having 33% market share was a market leader and its profit would increase during the current year as compare to the previous year figure of Rs.12.2 billion in view of its performance.

He said that in line with the government's objective of 'Privatisation for the People', preference in allocation would be given to the smallest applicants for 500 shares for a total investment of Rs.27, 500/=, which would directly benefit the small investors and would also help in broadening the shareholder base and lend additional strength to the market. The listing of PPL will also add significantly to market capitalization. It is expected that PPL would become one of the highly traded stocks in the stock markets, he hoped.

The SECP and KSE have allowed Privatisation Commission (PC) to initiate subscription for Sale of shares of Pakistan Petroleum Limited ('PPL') through Lead Manger Elixir Securities Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd w.e.f July 19 to July 22, 2004 during banking hours at the Government's offer price of Rs.55/= per share for the Initial Public Offer (IPO) The price for PPL IPO will be inclusive of the transfer fee and thus no additional transfer fee would be charged to the subscribers.

The government has approved the divestment of 15% shares of PPL through an Offer for Sale of 10% (68.58 million) of the company's issued shares to the general public with a green shoe option of additional 5% shares in case of over subscription. Applications are being invited in multiples of 500 shares.

He further stated that through the privatisation process life was being brought into the dead and sick units, which include Hyatt Regency Hotel Building, Kohinoor Oil Mills, Rohri Cement, Faletti's Hotel and Thatta Cement, which has doubled its production after privatisation.

To implement the Government's firm commitment to pass on the benefits of privatisation to the common man, the Privatisation Commission has so far benefited 197887 small applicants through the Public Offering of GoP shareholding in National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), the Minister said.

He detailed that the amount realized through the sale of shares of earlier offerings comes to Rs. 10.39 billion. NBP shares were sold to 33200 applicants through an IPO and two Secondary Public Offerings for Rs. 1.7 billion. The Offerings were oversubscribed and at the present average rate of Rs. 60/= per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 200 % in value and are presently worth about Rs. 5.26 billion.

An amount of Rs. 6.88 billion was realized through the Initial Public Offering of OGDCL shares from 97570 applicants. The IPO was 8 times oversubscribed and at the present average price of Rs. 61/= per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 91 % in value and are worth about Rs. 13.12 billion. The secondary Public Offering of SSGC shares fetched Rs.1.74 billion and was all time highly oversubscribed by 15 times, setting new records. With the average price of Rs. 34/= per share, the divested shares have shown an increase of 31% and are presently valued at Rs.2.28 billion.

Earlier, Mr. Munsif Raza, MD, PPL while presenting the history and the strategy of PPL informed that the GoP owns 93.4 % shares with net revenues of Rs.12.2 billion, net income of Rs.4.2 billion as of June 2003 and total reserves equivalent to 725 million barrels Oil. The company has 14 Blocks all over the country, which include eight operative and six non operative while PPL was also entering in international exploration in six different countries, he said. Giving financial details of the company an official of PPL informed that as of June 2003 the net sales stands at Rs.12 billion with Rs.20 billion assets.

The CEO of CDC Mr. Hanif Shakir informed the investors about the benefits of subscription through CDC and advised to open their individual accounts at the Central Depository Company ('CDC') for receiving the shares early. People opting for physical shares would need at least one extra month to be able to sell their shares. CDC is an electric book entry system with the benefits of instantaneous transfer of ownership, without stamp duty, no risk of damaged, lost, forged or duplicate certificates. There were 13,500 CDC accounts having 3 billion shares valuing Rs.140 billion while market capitalization of shares in CDS is 461.6 billion, he added and said that for opening of CDC account one should visit the offices of CDC at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges with an annual fee of Rs.1500/= for individual account to accommodate four members of the family and Rs.2000/= for corporate account. The road show was followed by Q& A session.