Hifsa Raja

AKD Securities Limited – a company principally engaged in the business of stocks, money market, foreign exchange, and commodity broking – has identified new trading opportunities for investors based on real-time technical analysis. Two valuable indicators – the company’s past trading activity and price changes – played an important role in identifying new trading opportunities.

This is the outline of an exclusive interview by WealthPK with Muhammad Ehtesham, Equity Manager of AKD Securities Limited. The details of the interview are as follows.

Q: Did the Covid-19 pandemic impact the stock market?

A: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is undeniable, with the financial industry and broker-dealer community being no exception. The stock market plays an important role in the economy by mobilizing domestic resources and channeling them into productive investment. The investment will only be productive if invested after careful analysis and held for a long-term period, he added.

Q: How does the company deal with the changing economic conditions?

A: The company has suffered from worse economic conditions e.g. inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, and political instability. We have a research team for real-time technical analysis. The team weighs the pros and cons of every aspect before decision-making. Machine Learning and Advanced Analytics are being used for forecasting. Our company derives deeper insights into the economic conditions to evaluate the risk profile of the company.

Q: What are some of the factors an investor should keep in mind while making an investment?

A: An investor must anticipate many factors. The state of the economy right now is not good. Inflation is really high. Political instability is another issue. On the other hand, some companies are good performers. Technical analysis helps identify these good performers for investment purposes. Before investing, an investor should determine whether the company is profitable or not. The investor should check the last six to twelve months’ financial performance. Sentiment analysis can also be helpful for the investor while making an investment. These are some of the factors that an investor should keep in mind before making an investment.

Q: How does the company serve stock investors?

A: The company offers convenience to investors in account opening and trading in the stock market. Our policy is that we don’t give directions to the investor to buy or sell some particular stock. We just guide our clients through the market sentiment. We just share our opinions with them about stocks whether they are in profit or in a loss. But it is the investor who will make the decision.

Our interbank brokerage division comprises money market and foreign exchange dealing desks for investors. We also guide our new investors through email and insight from the research team. We provide trade facilitation and financial planning to new investors.

Q: What are the basic requirements for making an investment in the company?

A: An investor has to process the trading account. There are certain requirements. The investor should have proof of the investment, a CNIC copy, and the nominee along with the initial deposit check in the name of AKD securities. Once your account is processed, you get access to trade in the stock market.

We also have a mobile-based application. An investor can buy and sell in any of the companies through this application. The online account facility is available. Initially, your email address is registered. You have to upload the required documents. After that, your online account will be processed in 2-3 days.

Q: What kind of operations does the company carry out in the ISE Tower and how does it deal with the investors in Karachi?

A:  We have branches in different cities and the purpose is to deal with the queries of the customers and to address account-related issues. The Islamabad branch deals with the investors of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. From time to time, investors with queries come for assistance.

Financial Performance

The company’s income declined 15% to Rs637 million in the first nine months of the previous fiscal year 2021-22 (9MFY22) from Rs748 million over the corresponding period of FY21.

The profit, showing a decline of 59%, stood at Rs894 million in 9MFY22 as compared to Rs2.15 billion over the same period of FY21. The net profit decreased 58% to Rs733 million in 9MFY22 from Rs1.74 billion profit in 9MFY21. The earnings per share (EPS) stood at Rs4.15 in 9MFY22 compared to Rs9.88 over the same period in FY21, showing a decline of 58%, reports WealthPK.

Annual Performance:

During the fiscal year 2020-21, the company generated a revenue of Rs1.62 billion over Rs525 million in 2019-20, registering an increase of 209%.  The operating profit for FY21 was Rs3.83 billion, registering an increase of 904% from Rs382 million in FY20. The profit-before-tax for FY21 was Rs3.83 billion compared to Rs376 million in FY20, showing an increase of 918%. Similarly, the profit after tax for FY21 was Rs3.19 billion compared to Rs248 million in FY20, showing an increase of 1183%.

The net profit margin demonstrated net profitability of -3.68 % after accounting for all other taxes in 2019. In 2020, the net profitability was 18.68%. In 2021, the net profitability increased, but decreased in 2022.

The EPS showed a growth of 883% in 2020, a little growth of 103.19% IN 2021, and a negative movement in 2022.

Profit or Loss over the years:

The total income showed consistency and is growing over the last four years, which is a very good sign for the company. The profit after tax showed a mixed trend. It is negative in 2019 and then positive in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the company registered a loss after taxation.

AKD Securities Limited is a public limited company incorporated in Pakistan. The company is a TREC holder of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited (PSX) & Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited (PMEX) and is principally engaged in the business of stocks, money market, foreign exchange, and commodity broking.

Other services include investment banking/corporate finance, Cross Asset Advisory, and economic research. In July 22, 2022, the name of the company was changed from BIPL Securities Limited to AKD Securities Limited.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk