DSE SME board kicks off amid dull trade

The country’s oldest bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday kicked off its platform for small and medium enterprises without enthusiasm.

The bourse introduced the platform to help raise equity capital for SMEs to fulfill their need to develop and expand their business.

Retail investors are virtually barred from the SME platform as the minimum lot size for a qualified investor is Tk 50 lakh that will suit only wealthy and well-informed investors.

Six companies debuted on the DSE SME platform. Two are the new companies and four came from the recently abolished OTC market.

Oryza Agro Industries rose 20 percent to close at 12, Master Feed Agrotec 20 per cent, Bengal Biscuits 18.5 per cent to over Tk 213, Wonderland Toys Tk 19.9, and Apex Weaving 20 per cent to Tk 14.4.

There were no takers for Himadri Ltd.

A total of 85 shares of five companies worth Tk 3,000 were traded.

“With the listing with the SME platform, we are expecting that investors put trust in our company,” Oryza Agro Industries Bayazied Hossain Company Secretary told The Business Post.

“It seems that the pandemic will be over soon. The business will grow better in days to come,” he said.

Apex Weaving Company Secretary Md Serajul Islam said that his company was shifted from the OTC to the SME board. “It will enhance the reputation of the company. We have a plan to return to the main board after improving our financial performance.”

There are certain eligibility criteria for registering in the SME platform. A public limited company with at least Tk 5 crore paid up capital can register at the SME platform.

The company listed with the DSE platform will be able to return to the mainboard once its paid-up capital crosses Tk30 crore. In this case, the company will have to apply for listing in the main board of the exchange following due formalities, within the next two years of aching paid-up capital.

On June 10, 2021, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the country’s second bourse, launched the SME platform on June 10, 2021, with the first listing of Nialco Alloy.

In November 2018, the securities regulator BSEC approved the (Qualified Investors Offer by Small Capital Companies) Rules aiming at SMEs to be listed on the bourses.