KSE ends flat at weekend

 KARACHI: The local equities at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)) ended flat on Friday with early gains wiped out after Engro Corp reported lower-than-expected results for the first half of 2011,dealers said.

Engro Corp reported a net profit of 3.32 billion rupees ($38.45 million) in the first half of 2011, compared with 3.2billion rupees in the same period last year. The earning per share was 8.64 rupees.

"The result is well below our expectation of 10.8 rupees per share mainly on account of lower earnings of its fertilizer business," said Bilal Qamar, an analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd.

Engro closed 2.86 percent lower at 131.89 rupees.

"Engro Corp's lower-than-expected result forced its share price lower by four rupees," said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd.

The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index closed 0.03 percent, or 2.91 points, lower at 11,262.04 points on turnover of 53.87 million shares. The KSE-index hit an intra-day high of 11,410.74 points. (Reuters)