Home ›› 06 Apr 2023 ›› Stock
Shares of Aziz Pipes Ltd, a loss-incurring listed firm, rallied by 18 per cent in the last three trading days till Wednesday at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Stocks of the PVC pipe manufacturer, which had been inoperative for a long time in recent years, topped the gainers’ list of the DSE on Tuesday, which seemed very suspicious to market analysts.
Following the company’s unusual share price gain, The Business Post started an investigation into the company’s recent business performance.
As part of the move, our correspondent visited the company’s factory located in Faridpur on Wednesday and came to know that its factory remained shut for the last few days.
Aziz Pipes’ workers and locals said the factory had been partially operational before the recent closure.
But, when taking a visit to the company’s headquarters in the capital’s Motijheel area on Tuesday, AHM Zakaria, company secretary of Aziz Pipes Ltd, claimed to The Business Post that their factory was currently fully operational.
He, however, did not specify why the company’s shares started to skyrocket in recent days.
The company even did not publish any price sensitive data in the immediate past few days which could prop up its stocks arrogantly.
Md Sirajul Islam, production manager of the company’s Faridpur-based factory, told The Business Post that despite the resumption of factory operation in October 1 last year, its operation is not regular due to the lack of work orders.
Although the company has four machines in its factory, only one is used when some work orders arrive, he added.
According to Sirajul Islam, the factory remains closed in around 10-15 days per month.
Earlier, the company resumed its production on October 1, 2021, eight months after it had suspended operations facing insufficient supply of raw materials in January 10 same year.
But several sources said the company’s the then announcement concerning the restart of its production was false.
Later, the company in November 8, 2021 repeatedly announced to halt its factory operation, citing bank loan complexities, dearth in raw materials, and capital crisis.
After around 10 months, the company on September 26, 2022, declared to resume its production again from October 1 that year, according to a DSE disclosure.
But source said the company could not return to the full-fledged production that time.
Aziz Pipes shares closed at Tk 87 per share on Monday, which jumped by 18 per cent or Tk 15.8 to Tk 102.8 per share till Wednesday.
Moreover, the company’s share price surged by 24.3 per cent in the last 12 trading days, with its shares at Tk 82.7 per share on March 22.
The company did not give any dividend to its shareholders for the year ended in June 2022.
It also did not give dividend for the previous fiscal.
The PVC pipe manufacturer reported a loss per share of Tk 2.14 for the July-December period of the fiscal year 2022-23, against the loss per share of Tk 1.99 for the same period last fiscal.
The firm reported a loss per share of Tk 4.54 for the fiscal year 2021-22, against the loss per share of Tk 0.82 for the previous fiscal.
Several capital market analysts said although the company is not regular in production and its financial state is also very poor, its share prices are hiked on a regular basis through manipulations.
It is an ominous sign for the country’s entire capital market, they added.
Meanwhile, an official concerned of the securities regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), said they were not aware of the recent closure of the company’s factory.
“We will look into the matter seriously,” they said.
The company had a turnover of Tk 60 crore when it incept its journey back in 1981, which currently stood at Tk 1 crore only.
It gave a 100 per cent dividend to its shareholders in 1995.
The PVC pipe maker was also among top 10 companies at the DSE in the 1990s.
But, due to the failure to expand the business, and inefficiency of leadership, the company lost its reputation.
Aziz Pipes’ paid-up capital is Tk 5.34 crore and its authorised capital is Tk 50 crore, while the total number of securities is 53.47 lakh.
Md Sohel from Faridpur contributed to this report
