Property Sector Finally Launched on PSX

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has launched a ‘Property’ sector for indexing the listed companies similar to sectors such as cement, banks, telecoms, etc. The addition of this sector increases the number of sectors on PSX to 36. According to the PSX notification, the property sector will be comprised of non-REIT real estate-related listed companies. This addition takes PSX closer to a better and improved reflection of the listed companies in representing relevant economic activity. It is an attempt to distinctly represent the important elements of real estate and construction in the PSX. The three companies initially placed in the sector are TPL Properties, Javed Corp Ltd, and Pace (Pak) Limited. These companies were listed in different sectors before. PSX has also been working aggressively in the real estate sector in different ways. Recently, the management of PSX planned to list over a dozen real estate investment trusts (REITs) to enable REITs to raise financing for their real estate projects by offering shareholding to the general public at the bourse. REITs are additional income-generating real estate projects for shareholders. Individuals may finance development REIT (construction projects) and acquire a shareholding in rental projects to get profit on financing or investment. Central Depository Company (CDC) still remains the trustee of all the REITs in Pakistan.