Asian markets surged to record highs Tuesday, mirroring a US tech stock rebound. Investors are now focused on upcoming US jobs and inflation reports. These crucial economic indicators will likely influence the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions. Alphabet Inc. is also raising significant funds through a bond offering, signaling continued tech sector investment.
The Takaichi trade is fueled by expectations that her policies will boost equities, while weakening the yen as she prefers looser monetary policy.
Sanae Takaichi’s landslide Japan election win gives her the green light for her ambitious economic plans. How she executes them matters for all of us.
The Nikkei stock index on Tuesday rose to a record intraday high for the second straight day on hopes for expansionary fiscal poliRead full story here
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 04: (L-R) White House “AI and Crypto Czar†David Scahs, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump share a moment during a dinner at the State Dining Room of the White House on September 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted tech and business leaders for dinner after they joined the first lady's meeting of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education Task Force at the White House this afternoon. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
There are estimated to be as many as 500,000 abandoned coal mines in the United States.
Sitara Peroxide Limited (PSX: SPL) was incorporated in Pakistan as a public limited company in 2004. The company is engaged in the manufacturing and sale of hydrogen peroxide.Pattern of ShareholdingAs of June 30, 2025, SPL has a total of 55.1 million shares outstanding which are held by 6215 shareholders. Directors, CEO, their spouse and minor children have the majority stake of 45.74 percent in the company followed by local general public holding 44.57 percent shares. Around 6.95 percent of the company’s shares are held by joint stock companies and 2.04 percent by foreign general public. The remaining shares are held by other categories of shareholders.Historical Performance (2019-25)Over the period under consideration, SPL’s topline posted year-on-year growth only in 2019 and 2021. Its bottomline stayed in the positive zone in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In the remaining years under consideration, the company posted net losses. The company suspended its production since 2024, however, recognized sales in 2024 on the back of leftover inventory from the previous year. SPL didn’t recognize any sales in 2025. The company’s margins follow the same trajectory as its bottomline whereby they maxed out in 2019 and then started deteriorating in the following years to enter negative zone in 2022. The detailed performance review of the period under consideration is given below.In 2019, SPL’s topline posted a year-on-year growth of 54 percent to clock in at Rs.2036.216 million. This came on the back of 18 percent growth in the sales volume as well as higher prices during the year.SPL has an installed capacity of 30,000 tons of hydrogen peroxide per annum. In 2019, the company utilized 84.42 percent of its capacity to produce 25,324 tons of hydrogen peroxide compared to 70 percent capacity utilization recorded in 2018. Steep rise in RNLG tariff coupled with an increase in the cost of raw and packaging materials owing to Pak Rupee depreciation as well as indigenous inflation pushed the cost of sales up by 28.68 percent year-on-year in 2019. However, better sales volume and higher prices drove the gross profit up by 249.17 percent year-on-year in 2019.This culminated into GP margin of 26 percent in 2019 versus 11.48 percent posted in 2018. Higher commission paid to the distributors coupled with elevated freight and octroi charges due to increase in sales volume and fuel prices translated into 48.90 percent year-on-year rise in distribution expense in 2019. Administrative expense also posted 15 percent year-on-year uptick in 2019 due to enhanced operations. Other expense grew by 1023.19 percent in 2019 to clock in at Rs. 22.07 million on the back of higher provisioning done for WWF and WPPF. However, the growth of other expense was nullified by 43.53 percent rise in other income which was the result of higher income from the sale of catalyst. Operating profit grew by 850.12 percent year-on-year in 2019 with OP margin boasting a staggering growth to clock in at 18.14 percent versus 2.94 percent registered in 2018. Finance cost grew by 25.26 percent year-on-year in 2019 due to rise of discount rate. Gearing ratio nosedived from 32 percent in 2018 to 25 percent in 2019 as the company paid off its liabilities during the year and also because of the accumulated profit which pushed up its equity. SPL was able to record net profit of Rs.207.38 million in 2019 as against net loss of Rs.65.40 in 2018. NP margin clocked in at 10.18 percent in 2019. EPS stood at Rs.3.76 in 2019 versus loss per share of Rs.1.19 in 2018.In 2020, SPL’s topline slid by 14.28 percent year-on-year to clock in at Rs.1745.356 million. While prices remained stable, the sales volume of the company dipped as local textile industry, which is the main customer of SPL operated at a curtailed capacity due to lockdown on account of COVID-19. In 2020, the company operated its plant at 77.65 percent capacity and produced 23,295 tons of Hydrogen peroxide which was 6 percent lesser than the capacity utilization achieved in 2019. During the year, the company made a pertinent decision of introducing a new product “Sitara Safe” which could be used a surface disinfectant and also for sterilization.The new product gained traction owing to COVID related circumstances and partially offset the low demand of hydrogen peroxide during the year. While low capacity utilization resulted in 5.57 percent lower cost of sales in 2020, gross profit sank by 39 percent year-on-year with GP margin sliding down to 18.52 percent due to increase in tariff on RNLG. Distribution and administrative expense posted a year-on-year rise of 2.39 percent and 10.88 percent respectively in 2020 due to higher payroll expense, commission to distributors as well as advertisement charges incurred during the year to promote the newly launched product. Other expense posted 70.35 percent year-on-year decline in 2020 on the back of lower provisioning done for WWF and WPPF while other income ticked up by 16.58 percent year-on-year in 2020 due to increased income from the sale of catalyst. Despite cost containment, weaker sales volume culminated into 53.71 percent year-on-year plunge in operating profit with OP margin trimming down to 9.79 percent in 2020.Finance cost inched down by 8.66 percent year-on-year in 2020 as the company settled a considerable portion of its debt during the year. Discount rate was also cut in the last quarter of FY20. Gearing ratio further tapered off to 19 percent in 2020. SPL recorded 64.20 percent year-on-year drop in its net profit which clocked in at Rs.74.24 million in 2020 with NP margin of 4.25 percent. EPS dived down to Rs.1.35 in 2020.In 2021, SPL’s topline posted a marginal growth of 6.88 percent year-on-year to clock in at Rs.1865.397 million. This was on the back of stable prices while demand remained lackluster. During 2021, SPL utilized 73.35 percent of its plant’s capacity and produced 22,006 tons of Hydrogen per oxide which was 5 percent lesser than the production volume of 2020. Shortage of gas was also to blame for lower capacity utilization achieved during the year. Low capacity utilization rendered the company unable to absorb the fixed overhead cost which pushed up the cost of production per unit.Moreover, increased tariff on RNLG as well as high cost of chemicals and packaging materials resulted in 40.84 percent year-on-year decline in SPL’s gross profit in 2021 with GP margin further subsiding to clock in at 10.25 percent. Distribution and administrative expense grew by 15 percent and 21.61 percent respectively in 2021, reflecting high inflation. Higher operating expense was in spite of lower sales volume recorded during the year. Relatively stable local currency coupled with lower provisioning done for WWF and WPPF translated into 69.53 percent year-on-year drop in other expense in 2021. Conversely, other income climbed up by 168.83 percent year-on-year in 2021 on account of income from sale of catalyst coupled with unwinding gain on GIDC provision as well as exchange gain.In 2021, the company also booked an impairment allowance of Rs. 28.29 million against expected credit losses, which was up 1099.13 percent when compared to the allowance booked in 2020. Operating profit further subsided by 63.64 percent year-on-year in 2021 with OP margin falling down to 3.33 percent. Finance cost tumbled by 40.85 percent year-on-year in 2021 on account of lower discount rate and lesser debt outstanding at the year-end. Gearing ratio caved in to 14 percent in 2021. SPL’s bottomline further shriveled by 53.25 percent year-on-year in 2021 to clock in at Rs.34.71 million with NP margin of 1.86 percent. EPS shrank to Rs. 0.63 in 2021.In 2022, SPL’s topline fell by 6.58 percent year-on-year to clock in at Rs.1742.727 million. This was on the back of lower sales volume due to constricted economic activity. The withered net sale in 2022 was in spite of higher prices of hydrogen per oxide during the year. Owing to the unavailability of gas, the company couldn’t even meet the offered demand and operated at 60.82 percent. It produced only 18,247 tons of Hydrogen per oxide in 2022.Despite low sales volume and reduced capacity utilization, cost of sales went up by 7.87 percent year-on-year in 2022. This was due to massive spike in RLNG tariff due to Russia-Ukraine war which created commodity crisis in the global market. This coupled with weaker Pak Rupee proved to be a double whammy for SPL and resulted in gross loss of Rs.63.20 million in 2022.The company had never reported a gross loss in its history (according to the published financial reports). Distribution expense tumbled by 9.22 percent year-on-year in 2022. Conversely, administrative expense grew by 19.52 percent year-on-year in 2022 due to high payroll expense and deposits written off during the year. High payroll expense was despite the fact that the number of employees was reduced from 323 in 2021 to 309 in 2022. The company didn’t book any provisioning for WWF and WPPF during the year and hence didn’t incur any other expense in 2022. Other income also reduced by 94.52 percent year-on-year in 2022.Allowance for expected credit losses further swelled up by 20.19 percent year-on-year in 2022. All these factors resulted in an operating loss of Rs.334.97 million in 2022. Finance cost piled up by 7.19 percent year-on-year in 2022 due to high discount rate although the company paid off a sizeable portion of its debt in 2022. Contraction in equity as well as lower cash and bank balances resulted in a comparatively higher gearing ratio of 16 percent in 2022. SPL recorded net loss of Rs.341.212 million in 2022 with loss per share of Rs.6.19.2023 didn’t proved to be encouraging for SPL as its topline dwindled by 52.72 percent year-on-year to clock in at Rs.823.998 million. This was due to low capacity utilization as the company battled against the unavailability of RLNG and other raw materials on account of import restrictions. Sustained losses also led to the shortage of working capital which also didn’t allow the company to attain its optimum capacity utilization.The plant was operated at the lowest ever capacity of 14.76 percent, producing only 4427 tons of hydrogen per oxide in 2023. Cost of sales nosedived by 38.29 percent in 2023 due to curtailed production. However, in the face of elevated prices of RLNG, electricity and imported raw and packaging materials, the company incurred gross loss of Rs.290.386 million in 2023. Distribution expense toppled by 66.22 percent in 2022 on account of lower sales commission, freight charges and salaries of sales force. Administrative expense surged by 43 percent in 2023 on account of impairment loss worth Rs.73.109 million booked on advances as well as provision worth Rs.15.34 million booked against sales tax refundable.No other expense was incurred in 2023. Other income also slumped by 82.50 percent year-on-year in 2023 due to high-base effect as the company recognized gain on sale of fixed assets in the previous year. Impairment loss on financial assets continued to surge and recorded a growth of 354.10 percent in 2023. SPL’s operating loss magnified by 109.52 percent in 2023 to clock in at Rs.701.813 million. Finance cost also grew by 31.65 percent year-on-year in 2023 due to higher discount rate and increased running finance facilities utilized during the year due to cash flow constraints. Gearing ratio jumped up to 31.83 percent in 2023. Net loss grew by 114.69 percent year-on-year in 2023 to clock in at Rs.732.56 million with loss per share of Rs.14.39.The company shut down its plant since June 12, 2023 in order to avoid further production losses and to undertake balancing, modernization and replacement (BMR) for viable operations. In 2024, SPL posted net sales of Rs.14.901 million, down 98.19 percent year-on-year. This pertained to sale of surplus inventory from last year as the production was suspended during the year. Cost of sales fell by 80.67 percent in 2024 and largely comprised of depreciation expense. Gross loss was recorded at Rs.200.46 million in 2024, down 30.97 percent year-on-year. Distribution expense also plunged by 93.15 percent in 2024 and mainly comprised of salaries of sales force.Administrative expense tumbled by 61.39 percent in 2024 as unlike the previous year, no impairment loss on advances and provision for sales tax refundable was booked during the year. Number of employees was brought down from 262 in 2023 to 15 in 2024, leading to thinner payroll expense. Other income did exceptionally well as it grew by 7186.24 percent to clock in at Rs.89.55 million in 2024 on the back of gain recognized on the disposal of assets. After four year of growth, impairment loss on financial assets also slid by 48.85 percent in 2024. SPL posted operating loss of Rs.280.56 million in 2024, down 60 percent year-on-year. Finance cost dropped by 63.55 percent in 2024 despite higher discount rate. With an aim to become debt free in the near future, the company settled a great deal of its outstanding liabilities during the year which resulted in a thinner gearing ratio of 29.35 percent. Net loss tapered off by 76.88 percent to clock in at Rs.169.35 million in 2023. This translated into loss per share of Rs.3.07 in 2024.In 2025, the production continued to cease and hence the company recorded no net sales. Resultantly, there was no cost of sales and no gross loss. No distribution expense was incurred during the year. Conversely, administrative expense surged by 187 percent in 2025 due to booking of all depreciation expense under administrative expense. High-base effect due to the recognition of gain on the sale of assets in the previous year, resulted in 85.60 percent decline in other income in 2025.Impairment loss on financial assets also dipped by 18 percent in 2025. Operating loss surged by 9.29 percent to clock in at Rs.306.619 million in 2025. Finance cost shrank by 81 percent in 2025 due to lower outstanding liabilities. However, thinner equity on the back of higher accumulated losses resulted in a higher gearing ratio of 32.84 percent in 2025. Net loss mounted by 31.40 percent to clock in at Rs.222.519 million in 2025 with loss per share of Rs.4.04.Recent Performance (1QFY26)The company’s operations remained suspended in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year. The booking of all expenses (including depreciation) under administrative expense resulted in no cost of sales in 1QFY26 versus cost of sales of Rs.53.83 million recorded in 1QFY25.The same reason also resulted in 135.41 percent spike in administrative expense in 1QFY26. Operating loss clocked in at Rs.60.80 million in 1QFY26, up 24 percent year-on-year. The repayment of loans resulted in 56.50 percent plunge in finance cost in 1QFY26. Net loss was recorded at Rs.49.527 million in 1QFY26, down 30 percent year-on-year. This translated into loss per share of Rs.0.90 in 1QFY26 versus loss per share of Rs.1.28 recorded in 1QFY25.Future OutlookThe company is undergoing the process of the repair & maintenance of its plant & machinery and is making efforts to arrange funds for BMR either through equity or debt financing. The company will use these funds to import state-of-the-art machinery. In the previous year, the CEO of the company granted an interest free loan of Rs.387.508 million to meet the company’s external financial obligations in order to avoid any litigation. With the constant support of the management and with the arrangement of funds, the company can resume its operations in the near future.Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Asian Stocks Set to Extend Rally to Another Record: Markets Wrap bloomberg.comAsia stocks rise as Nikkei sets fresh record, dollar drops Yahoo Finance SingaporeAsian stocks set to extend rally to another record The Edge SingaporeTrading Moments: Japanese, South Korean, and A-shares surge; gold and silver rebound; Bitcoin needs to hold above 70,000 for a sustained rebound. PANewsStrong equities bounce, EUR/USD, EUR/GBP USD Index, Gold and Silver uptrend? [Video] FXStreet
SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy grew 6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, higher than an official advance estimate of 5.7%. Read full story
Sugar High moving to new shop on Liebig Street.
Pre-filled ITRs to ease filing for salaried employees under new Income Tax rules | India News Hindustan TimesDraft income tax rules: PAN no more compulsory for hotel bills below ₹1 lakh, cash withdrawals & deposits below ₹10 lakh MintFewer forms & filings: New I-T law to ease compliance load Times of India‘I-T returns in 2026-27 to be governed by old rules’ Deccan HeraldDraft income tax rules raise PAN thresholds, add crypto reporting and CBDC Telegraph India
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Jiuguang Lighting: Global Leading Offroad Lights Manufacturer Illuminating the Frontiers of AdventureIn the world of high-performance off-roading, the ...