Home ›› 15 Jun 2023 ›› Front
The state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) has sold off all of its holdings in Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL).
ICB, one of the bank’s major local shareholders, also withdrew the directorship of Abu Taher Mohammad Ahmedur Rahman as their representative on the IBBL Board of Directors.
The move was also approved by the board in its 322nd meeting held on May 31.
As of April 30, 2023, ICB held 3.34 crore or 2.07 per cent of the total paid-up capital of IBBL’s shares.
ICB shares were sold at Tk 32.60 each on the block and main markets of the stock exchanges.
The bank’s shares closed at Tk 32.60 each on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) trading floor on Wednesday.
ICB had placed Abu Taher on the IBBL board as its representative on November 28, 2022, after withdrawing Md Kamal Hossain Gazi.
Currently, the Saudi Arabia-based Al-Rajhi Co for Industry and Trade, Islamic Development Bank and Arabas Travel and Tourist Agency jointly hold a 22.04 per cent stake in IBBL’s paid-up capital.
Foreign investors own 20.24 per cent of the bank’s total share, institute investors 14.59 per cent and general shareholders hold 10.11 per cent.
Besides, four Middle East-based sponsors — Bahrain Islamic Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Finance House and Dubai Islamic Bank — sold off or reduced their holdings in the bank since 2015.
In 2022, IBBL generated an operating profit of Tk 2,124 crore with a 28.35 per cent growth and the net profit stood at Tk 592 crore, registering a 27.68 per cent growth.
Once the country’s most profitable private sector bank, the ownership of IBBL changed in early 2017. Later on, a change was made to its Board of Directors.
It paid a 10 per cent cash dividend to the shareholders for the year 2022. The leading private commercial bank’s consolidated earnings per share (EPS) were at Tk 3.83 on December 31, 2022, up from Tk 2.99 on December 31, 2021.
Its consolidated EPS was Tk 0.35 for January–March 2023. It was Tk 0.52 for the same period last year.
Earlier, Ahsanul Alam, son of S Alam Group Chairman Saiful Alam Masood, had applied to Bangladesh Bank to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) to be a director of IBBL.
The IBBL board made him a director and elected him chairman of the bank in a meeting held on June 13.
