The share price of Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s largest telecom operator and the company with biggest market capitalisation, slipped by 8.72 per cent to Tk 261.60 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Sunday, after being stuck on Tk 286.60 floor price since September 2022.
This withdrawal decision came through a directive of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on February 6.
On the same day, the stock market regulator withdrew the floor price for another six companies’ shares. Orion Pharmaceuticals, Anwar Galvanizing and Renata Ltd, and will remain in effect until further notice.
Meanwhile, the remaining three companies — British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Grameenphone and Robi — will have the floor price until their forthcoming record date.
Now only six companies share the floor price. These are – Beximco Ltd, BSRM Ltd, Islami Bank, Khulna Power, Meghna Petroleum, and Shahjibazar Power.
As per the new order, the upper limit and lower limit of the circuit breaker will apply to all securities other than the six companies’ shares as per the previous order, which was issued on November 14, 2019.
The BSEC withdrew the floor price on listed securities 18 months after imposing them, to bring back a vibrant capital market. The regular circuit-breaker mechanism – which was in effect before the imposition of floor price – is now effective.
On January 18, after the session’s closing bell, BSEC issued an order rescinding the floor price for all listed companies and mutual funds, except for 35 companies’ shares, complying with a long-standing demand from stakeholders.
On January 21, DSEX fell 96.50 points, or 1.52 per cent, in the first trading session after the floor price withdrawal. After five minutes of trading, the key index had plunged about 214 points, but later recovered most of the initial losses.
The next day, DSEX gained 14.05 points and closed at 6,254.31. The stock market regulator also withdrew the floor price for 23 more companies that day.
Market insiders said the key index was very much expected to fall as a large number of stocks failed to see price discovery for a long time due to the floor price.
On July 28, 2022, BSEC imposed floor prices on all securities to prevent shares from falling beyond a certain level amid domestic and global macroeconomic strains.
Grameenphone declared its lowest dividend for shareholders for 2023 in thirteen years, despite the company’s net profit rising by 9.87 per cent to Tk 3,306 crore.
This publicly traded company declared a 125 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders for the year that ended on December 31, 2023.
The multinational company’s net profit rose to Tk 3,306 crore last year, which was Tk 3,009 crore the year before, according to the financial statement. Its earnings per share (EPS) were Tk 24.49 in the last year, which was Tk 22.29 in the previous year [2022].
To approve the dividend and the financial statement, Grameenphone will conduct the annual general meeting (AGM) on May 2, and the record date is February 29 this year. It should be noted that the company announced a 120 per cent dividend back in 2010.
Its net asset value (NAV) per share stood at Tk 49.39 and net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) at Tk 44.88 for the year ending on December 2023, compared to Tk 43.22 and Tk 47.26 respectively, for the previous year.
For the first time ever, Grameenphone is not offering an interim cash dividend to its shareholders in the first half of 2023.
Meanwhile, the listed multinational’s net profit rose by 14 per cent to Tk 1,973 crore in the first six months of 2023, compared year-on-year. The largest market-cap company reported revenues of Tk 15,040 crore in 2022.
Norway’s Telenor holds a 55.8 per cent stake in Grameenphone, while local firm Grameen Telecom owns 34.2 per cent stake in the company. The remaining 10 per cent shares are in the hands of institutional and general investors.
Listed on the Dhaka bourse in 2009, the company has a paid-up capital base of Tk 1,350 crore.
