The main objective of this study is to find the relationship between capital structure, free cash flow, and performance of oil and gas companies listed on PSX over the last eleven years (2005-2015). The study is quantitative in nature, follow positivistic paradigm and deductive approach. The study employ capital structure measure, total debt to total assets ratio, and free cash flow as the independent variables of the study, while firm?s performance measures, return on assets and Tobin?s Q are included as the dependent variables of the study. The study also employs firm size, assets growth, interest rate, inflation rate and world oil prices as the control variables.
The population of the study consists of all oil and gas firms listed on PSX and financial period under consideration is from 2005 to 2015. The whole oil and gas sector consisting of twelve companies is under study but due to unavailability of financial data of two companies for full period under consideration, the final sample consist of ten oil and gas companies listed on PSX. Out of ten PSX listed oil and gas companies, four companies are involved in oil and gas exploration and production and the other six are involved in oil and gas marketing and distribution. Thus, to get better insight into the performance of both category of firms, overall PSX listed oil and gas firms were broadly categorized in two categories i.e. exploration and production companies and marketing and distribution companies.
The required financial data is extracted from the annual reports of the sample companies and different statistical analysis is performed with the help of Stata version 13.0, to fulfill the objectives of the study. After assumption testing through Hausman Test, and BPLM Test, an OLS regression model is selected as the final model and interpretations are made accordingly.
The study find a negative relationship between total debt to total assets ratio and firm?s performance measured through return on assets and Tobin?s Q for oil and gas exploration and production companies as well as for oil and gas marketing and distribution companies, suggesting that higher level of debt will decrease firm?s performance. The results also showed a significant positive relationship between free cash flow and both firm?s performance measures under study for oil and gas exploration and production companies as well as for oil and gas marketing and distribution companies, indicating a lack of evidence supporting the free cash flow hypothesis. The results also showed a significant positive relationship between assets growth and both firm?s performance measures under study for both categories of oil and gas companies, whereas, a significant negative relationship is observed between firm size, interest rate, inflation rate, world oil prices for both categories of oil and gas companies under study and both firm?s performance measures.
مولانا شاہ حلیم عطا دوسرا حادثہ دارالعلوم ندوۃ العلماء کے شیخ الحدیث مولانا شاہ حلیم عطا صاحب کی وفات ہے، وہ حضرت شاہ پیر محمد عطا سلونویؒ کی اولاد میں تھے اور موجودہ سجادہ نشین شاہ نعیم عطا صاحب کے چھوٹے بھائی تھے۔ یہ خاندان علم و فضل دونوں کا جامع رہا ہے۔ شاہ حلیم عطا صاحب بڑے وسیع النظر عالم اور اسلامی علوم کا زندہ کتب خانہ تھے۔ خصوصاً حدیث اور اس کے متعلقہ فنون پر ان کی نظراتنی گہری اور وسیع تھی کہ اس دور کے علماء میں اس کی مثالیں کم ملیں گی۔ حضرت الاستاذؒ فرمایا کرتے تھے کہ شاہ صاحب کے علم کی تھا نہیں ملتی اور اس علم و فضل کے ساتھ ایسے خاکسار اور متواضع، سادہ مزاج اور بھولے بھالے تھے کہ ان کو دیکھ کر کوئی شخص مشکل سے ان کے لکھے پڑھے ہونے کا گمان کرسکتا تھا۔ اپنے سے کمتر علم والوں کی باتیں اس شوق اور توجہ سے سنتے کہ معلوم ہوتا خود استفادہ کررہے ہیں۔ حافظہ حیرت انگیز تھا، کتابوں کے صفحے کے صفحے زبانی یاد تھے مگر ان کمالات کے ساتھ قوت گویائی اور قوت ِ تحریر نہ تھی، اس سے بھی زیادہ ان کی تواضع اور استغنانے ان کو نام و نمود سے بے نیاز کردیا تھا، اس لیے ایک محدود علمی حلقہ کے سوا علمی دنیا بھی ان کے کمالات سے واقف نہ ہوسکی، تقریباً پندرہ سال سے دارالعلوم ندوۃ العلماء میں حدیث نبوی کا درس دیتے تھے اور اسی مبارک شغل میں چند دنوں فالج میں مبتلا رہ کر انتقال کیا۔ انتقال کے وقت ۶۵ سال کی عمر رہی ہوگی۔ اﷲ تعالیٰ اس پیکر علم و اخلاق کو اس کے پاک شغل کے طفیل میں عالم آخرت کی سربلندی عطا فرمائے۔ (شاہ معین الدین ندوی، نومبر ۱۹۵۵ء)
Modes of financing in Islamic banking system are generally categorized as Sharaiah based financing like Musharakah, Mudarabah and Shariah compliant financing like Murabaha, Ijarah etc. Islamic banks should have adopted and promoted Sharaiah based financial instruments but instead they have been predominantly using Sharaiah compliant modes especially Murabaha due to some valid reasons. The aim of this paper is to highlight and know the level of satisfaction of the clients, businessmen, entrepreneurs, professionals, academicians and Islamic banking experts of the prevalent structure and use of Murabaha by the Islamic banks in Pakistan.
Background: A wide variety of sedation techniques are employed to facilitate various invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Increasingly, propofol is emerging as the preferred sedative agent. Traditionally, it has been administered as intermittent boluses to achieve deep sedation to facilitate gastrointestinal endoscopy. Propofol target controlled infusion can be employed to provide suitably conducive conditions for this purpose. Objective: The primary objective sought to compare the proportion of hypoxia between the study group receiving intermittent boluses of propofol at 0.25mg/kg as needed, and the other receiving target-controlled infusion of propofol at 2.5mcg/ml during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The secondary objectives were to compare the occurrence of hypotension, bradycardia, and the time to wake up between the two groups. Primary outcome measure: Decrease in oxygen saturation below 90 percent (SpO2 <90%) Secondary outcome measures: Decrease in systolic blood pressure of more than 20% from baseline; decrease in heart rate to less than 50 beats per minute. Study design: prospective, single centre, randomized controlled trial Study setting: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Sample size: One hundred and seventy-six participants were enrolled; 88 belonging to the intermittent bolus arm and 88, to the target-controlled infusion arm. Study population: Included all ASA I and II patients between the ages of 18 and 65 years scheduled to undergo upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (oesophagogastroduodenoscopy) under sedation. Sedation procedure: One hundred and seventy-six participants were allocated randomly into one of two groups corresponding to the mode of propofol used for sedation (a) Premedication with midazolam 0.05mg/kg added to an initial bolus of propofol 1mg/kg, followed by repeat boluses of 0.25mg/kg as needed (B, n = 88) and (b) Premedication with midazolam 0.05mg/kg added to an initial target effect-site concentration of 4mcg/ml, followed by maintenance target effect-site concentration of 2.5mcg/ml, titrated upward or downward by 0.5mcg/ml from baseline infusion rate as needed (T, n = 88). Oxygenation and haemodynamic parameters were evaluated by determining oxygen saturation, blood pressure and heart rate immediately before administering the sedative and at 2.50, 5.00, 7.50 and 10.00 minutes. Standard care was, in addition to the above, provided. Data collection: A data collection tool was used to record data (refer to appendix V). Patients’ baseline vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation were entered. Any occurrence of oxygen desaturation below 90% in both study groups was also recorded. The sedation starting time, stopping time, waking up time and overall duration of time