Thermax Textile Mills Ltd, a key stakeholder and former director of SBAC Bank PLC, has announced its decision to divest a significant portion of its shares in the bank. The company intends to sell 34.8 million shares out of its total holding of 35.1 million shares.
The sale will be conducted at the prevailing market price through the Block Market on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), read an announcement published on the DSE website on Sunday.
Abdul Kadir Mollah is the founder, chairman and managing director of Thermax Group. He is currently serving as a director of the SBAC Bank. In 2022, he served as the chairman of the bank.
After the announced shares are sold, Thermax Textile Mills will have only 3,50,000 shares remaining in SBAC Bank.
Statistics show that in June and July of 2024, the bank's sponsor directors sold 35.9 million shares. As a result, where in June the sponsor directors held 70.77 per cent of the total shares of the bank, by July it had decreased to 66.41 per cent.
Meanwhile, following Sunday’s announcement that Thermax Textile Mills will sell over 34 million shares, the sponsor directors of the bank will have completed the sale of 120 million shares in the last three months.
Market insiders said that after the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government was ousted on August 5, there have also been changes in the SBAC Bank's management. As part of this, Abdul Kadir Mollah’s Thermax Textile Mills has decided to sell a large number of shares.
When contacted for comments on the issue, the bank’s Company Secretary Mokaddess Ali did not answer the phone.
The private commercial lender's share price was Tk 8.90 per share on Sunday.
This, however, is not the first time this happened. After the bank was listed on the stock exchange in 2021, a frenzy of share sales by the sponsor directors ensued just a year later.
The publicly traded lender’s many sponsors and directors sold out around 90 million shares worth Tk 95 crore, according to DSE data.
The bank’s Sponsor Tahmina Afroz sold her entire stake of 34.8 million through block transactions and earlier, the bank’s Sponsor Director Hazi Shakhawat Anwara Eye Hospital Limited sold the entire 34.8 million shares from the bank on December 7, 2022.
The announcement of massive share sales by the bank’s sponsors just after two and half years of listing would significantly hurt investors’ confidence in the bank, said stock market analyst Professor Abu Ahmed.
In August, Maksudur Rahman, another sponsor of the bank, sold out more than 20.4 million shares out of his holding of 25.8 million.
Q2 of 2024
Meanwhile, SBAC Bank reported a Consolidated Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Tk 0.22 for the second quarter (April-June) of 2024, slightly down from Tk 0.23 in the same period of 2023.
Despite this minor decline, the bank's performance for the entire first half (January-June) of 2024 showed positive growth. The Consolidated EPS for H1 of 2024 rose to Tk 0.46, up from Tk 0.41 in the corresponding period of 2023.
The bank also reported a significant improvement in its Consolidated Net Operating Cash Flow Per Share (NOCFPS), which surged to Tk 8.38 for H1 of 2024 — compared to Tk 3.18 in H1 of 2023. This increase in NOCFPS was attributed to a rise in deposits, enhancing the bank's liquidity position.
Additionally, the Consolidated Net Asset Value Per Share (NAVPS) climbed to Tk 13.80 as of June 30, 2024, from Tk 13.50 as of December 31, 2023. The increase in NAVPS was linked to the growth in EPS, driven by an increase in net interest income.
Incorporated in 2013, SBAC Bank got the IPO approval on May 9, 2021, and started stock trading on August 11, 2021. With an authorised capital of Tk 1,000 crore, the bank has a paid-up capital of Tk 816 crore, while its total number of securities stands at 81.6 crore.
Sponsor-directors own a 66.41 per cent stake in the bank, while institutional investors hold 16.74 per cent and the general public represents a 16.85 per cent stake as of July 2024.
