Company News -- Kazakhstan Weekly News

Oil & Gas

Aktau-based JSC MangistauMunaiGas (Listing B on the KASE) has submitted to the KASE its consolidated financial statement for 1998. At the end of 1998, the company's shareholder equity totalled KZT 3.1bn (USD 39.6m), up by 39.7% compared with the previous year. As a result, the book value of one share rose by 39.7% to KZT 1,002.58 (USD 12.8). In the reported year the company had a net income of KZT 5.2m , an increase of 125.7% after losses in 1997. (Panorama)

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JSC Embamunaigas (a non-listed securities board on the KASE) has begun drilling a 575 m deep exploratory well in the Taisogan area of Kazakhstan's sector of the Northern Caspian region, the president of the company Makhambet Batyrov told journalists. The company obtained a licence early this year to use natural resources in the area covering about 10,000 km. It has already discovered fifteen geological horizons bearing about 289 million tonnes of oil. The company plans to double the production of oil to 2.5 million tonnes per year once the operation of the Taisogan oil field starts. (PRIME-TASS)

Mining & Metals

Since the beginning of the year, Kazakhstan's copper giant, Kazakmys Corporation, has produced 112,000 tonnes of refined copper, compared with 110,000 tonnes in the same period a year ago. With the ongoing decline in the world price of copper, the corporation adheres to the policy of "surviving through increasing output and cutting costs," said the company's public relations office. In April alone, Kazakhmys produced 28,000 tonnes of refined copper and considerably increased shipments of zinc concentrate. The corporation is maintaining maximum outputs of copper, zinc, silver, and gold through increasing mining works. It is presently constructing three mines and operating seven others as well as operating twelve open pits of which two are coal open-cut mines. (Interfax)

Banks

Kazkommertsbank (Listing A on the KASE) has presented to the KASE the documents concerning the sixth issue of securities by the bank. At their meeting held on 25 January, the bank's shareholders decided that the bank's authorised capital should be increased by more than KZT 53m through capitalisation of part of the net profit and changes in the capital's structure. The sixth issue is for 285,428,778 common shares with a face value of USD 0.12 and totals USD 34,251,453.36. (IRBIS)

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Temirbank (Listing A) has submitted to the KASE the audit report of Arthur Andersen on the bank's financial statement for 1998. According to the independent auditor, the bank doubled its authorised capital to KZT 1bn in 1998 compared with 1997. Its shareholder equity exceeded KZT 1.3bn whereas it was KZT 980,629 in 1997. The bank's net income reached KZT 188,950 after it was KZT 44,770 in the previous year. The book value of one share decreased to KZT 1,323.74 compared with KZT 1,961.26 as the number of the bank's outstanding shares increased to 995,526 from 500,000. According to the auditors, in 1998 the bank provided loans to the following sectors: wholesale (16.8% of the total amount of loans); trade companies (44.25%), retail (9.1%), and industrial sector (15.5%) (IRBIS)

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