Nepse sees whopping decline

Nepse sees whopping decline
Nepalnews, 12-Sep-09

Not surprisingly, the books closure of financial institutions dragged the entire Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) down by 47.48 points to 614.78 points last week.

Commercial banks, development banks, financial institutions and hydropower companies - key market propellers - nosedived this week, pulling down Nepse by a shocking 55.61 points to 614.79 points from Sunday morning’s opening of 660.40 points.
All the groups except manufacturing group saw a decline in their indices

The hydropower companies group declined by 27.16 points followed by development banks’ group with 25.28 points. The groups representing finance as well as insurance companies saw a decline of 17.98 points each. The group categorized as others witnessed a decline of 11.75 points followed by trading group with 10.46 points.

The sensitive index that measures the transactions of the ‘A’ class companies saw a decline of 16.43 points. There are 78 ‘A’ class companies listed in the Nepse. Nabil Bank topped in terms of turnover with Rs 67.83 million, Standard Finance Company in terms of number of shares traded with 1,35,000-unit shares changing hands and Citizens Bank International topped in terms of number of transactions.

Meanwhile, the transaction amount increased by 40.08 percent to Rs 483.89 million against last week’s fall of 32.63 percent.

The float index - calculated on the basis of real transactions - also slid down by 5.14 points to drop to 58.53 points from Sunday morning’s opening of 63.67 points.

Prez, PM get pay hike

Prez, PM get pay hike
Nepalnews, 10-Sep-09

The government has increased salaries of top political executives of the country, including the President, the Prime Minister, ministers and lawmakers, Republica daily reported.

The cabinet meeting on September 2 decided to hike the salary of the President, Vice-president, the PM, Deputy PM, CA chairperson, CA vice-chairperson, opposition leader, ministers, state ministers, assistant ministers, chief whip, opposition chief whip, CA committee chairpersons and CA members, the report says quoting unnamed cabinet sources.

The President's salary has increased to Rs 72,800 from Rs 70,000 per month, while the PM's salary has increased to Rs 36,900 from Rs 35,500 per month after the decision.

Likewise, after the pay hike, minsters will get Rs 28,920 and CA members will get Rs 26,110 per month. The salary of CA chairperson has increased from 30,800 to 32,040, while the salaries of CA vice-chairperson and opposition leader both has increased from Rs 27,800 to 28,920.

The President, PM and the ministers also get other allowances and privileges including house rent allowance, cars with drivers, and fuel among others, in addition to the salary.

Top 10 Corporate Taxpayers

Telecom, banking players enjoy impressive jump; manufacturers lose out
myrepublica.com, 1-Sep-09

As Nepal´s service sector enjoyed a robust growth amid growing consumption, big manufacturers withered away under the heat of labor stir and bandas, failing badly to hold their position among the top taxpayers of the country in 2008/09 fiscal year.

Large client base and rapid expansion drive enabled the state-owned telecom giant Nepal Telecom (NT) to consolidate its position as the largest taxpayer of the country during the year. The telecom giant contributed Rs 7.42 billion to the state coffer during the year, which was a 16 percent growth over what it paid in the previous year, shows a Ministry of Finance record.

Spice Nepal, the private operator of Mero Mobile brand, marched into the second position from the third position in the preceding fiscal year, pushing down Surya Nepal, the regular second largest taxpayer, in 2008/09. Spice Nepal paid Rs 1.92 billion in taxes to the government during the year, up from Rs 627.10 million of the previous year.

Gorkha Brewery, the manufacturer of leading beer brands such as Tuborg, Carlsberg and San Miguel, also climbed up the ladder to the third spot from the fourth place, thanks to increased consumption. The subsidiary of the Khetan Group paid Rs 1.90 billion in tax in 2008/09, which was a rise of more than two-fold over what it paid a year earlier.

Surya Nepal, the cigarette and apparel manufacturing giant, found itself in the fourth spot during the year, even though it paid Rs 1.26 billion in tax to the government -- a figure that was two-fold higher than the amount it paid a year ago.

Interestingly, the positions from the 5th to 10th largest taxpayers of the country were occupied by the commercial banks. By contributing Rs 447.60 million in the state treasury, the country´s first private commercial bank, Nabil Bank, jumped up a position to the fifth spot, displacing Standard Chartered Bank, which paid Rs 438.90 million in tax in 2008/09, to the sixth spot.

Nepal Investment Bank, with the contribution of Rs 381.20 million in state coffer, became the seventh largest taxpayer, whereas Himalayan Bank, state-owned Agricultural Development Bank and Everest Bank Limited secured the 8th, 9th and 10th spots. They had paid taxes of Rs 318.10 million, Rs 304.20 million and Rs 267.20 million respectively.

Among the manufacturing players, Unilever Nepal was ranked third leading taxpayers. However, in the overall list, it was ranked as the 14th largest taxpayer of the country. Unilever Nepal had paid tax of Rs 222 million in 2008/09.

“It is not surprising that the positions of taxpayers switched as per the way economy performed,” said a government source, referring to the negative growth of manufacturing sector and rosy growth of the service sector.

Top players
Nepal Telecom - Rs 7.42b
Spice Nepal - Rs 1.92b
Gorkha Brewery - Rs 1.90b
Surya Nepal - Rs 1.26b
Nabil Bank - Rs 447.60m
Standard Chartered - Rs 438.90m
Nepal Investment Bank - Rs 381.20m
Himalayan Bank - Rs 318.10m
Agricultural Dev Bank - Rs 304.20m
Everest Bank - Rs 267.20m