The Dhaka Stock Excha- nge (DSE) set fresh records yesterday with its single day turnover and total market capitalisation reaching new high.

Bull run continued on the premier bourse of the country yesterday, the first trading day of the week, as all the indices advanced significantly.

The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) rose 80 points, or 0.90 per cent, to refresh its record to 8,918 points. DGEN advanced more than 300 points in last three sessions.

“Investors were buying more shares ahead of year-end closure expecting high returns which pushed the market to go up,” said a stock broker.

Banking sector led the bull run of DSE yesterday contributing 45 per cent of the total turnover of the session, according to BRAC EPL daily market analysis.

Banking sector gained by 2.64 per cent as 15 out of 30 banks listed with the DSE posted gain.

Investors are pumping a huge amount of money into the market and preferring financial institutions sha- res to invest, leading the indices up, Ahmed Rashid Lali, a former vice president of the DSE.

Insurance, financial institutions were the other big gainers of the day while telecommunication, pharmaceutical, textile,
engineering, mutual fund units and power went down.

The single-day turnover crossed Tk 32.5 billion mark yesterday setting a new record. The previous high was Tk 32.08 billion reached on October 31. Yesterday’s trading was Tk 700 million high over the level of the previous session.

Total market capitalisation also advanced to Tk 3680.71 billion, a record.

The broader DSE All Share Price Index (DSI) also surged 58 points, or 0.79 per cent, to finish at 7,383 while the blue-chip DSE-20 index was up by 146 points, or 2.75 per cent, to close at 5,429.

A total of 244 issues changed hands on the day of which 91 advanced, 150 declined and three remai- ned unchanged.

AB Bank topped the turnover leaders with more than 8 lakh shares valued Tk 140 crore traded on the floor.

The other turnover leaders were Southeast Bank, Islami Bank, Prime Bank, Beximco, United Commer- cial Bank, City Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Brac Bank and Shine Pukur Ceramics.

Islami Bank topped the top gainers with a rise of 14.98 per cent, or Tk 109.5, to end at Tk 840. Other major gainers were Keya Detergent, City Bank, HR Textile, Islami insurance, Premier Leasing, Saiham Textile, National Tubes, AB Bank and Provati Insura-nce.

Pharma Aid was the worst loser yesterday, which fell by Tk 15,174, or 81.67 per cent, to finish the session at Tk 3,406. Other losers of the day were Mithun Knitting, Tallu Spinning, Bangas, CMC Kamal, Aziz Pipes, Desh Garments, Standard Ceramics, Safko Spinning and Ambee Pharma.

Source : daily-sun, Bangladesh/6th Dec 2010

The Bangladesh Bank has instructed all the banks to investigate whether any loan amounting to Tk 10 million or more are being properly used or not. Bank governor Atiur Rahman told bdnews24.com that the instruction was given as part of its continuous process to make sure that the money is not used in the share market. The central bank recently found that some borrowers took loans from different banks to use in productive sectors but they ultimately channelised the money into the stock market. It is illegal to use borrowed money in any purpose other than the proposed one.

The banks have been asked to inform the central bank by Dec 14 whether there is any borrower who is not using the loan properly, Atiur said. "They'll have to coordinate with the central bank such matters by Jan 15." He warned that legal steps would be taken against the chief executive officers (CEOs) of those banks that would fail to comply with the order.

He said a chart was given to every bank to list the names, addresses, lending branch of the banks, and amounts and objectives of the loans of those who have a loan of Tk 10 million or more. "The Bangladesh Bank will visit the banks after the lists are submitted," the governor said.

Regarding steps against CEOs instead of branch managing directors (MDs), he said: "We've experienced that the CEOs blame the branch MDs for such incidents. But actually the loans are distributed as per orders given by the higher authorities."

On Nov 4, the central bank asked the banks to monitor the use of loan of Tk 10 million or more. "But, they didn't properly follow the order. An investigation by the Bangladesh Bank shows that a number of borrowers diverted their loans into the share market instead of using that in industries."

Source: bdnews24.com

SHANGHAI, June 29: Agricultural Bank of China is on track for the world’s largest initial public offering after saying yesterday it planned to raise up to 10.1 billion dollars in the Shanghai portion of its share sale, reports AFP.

AgBank — the last of China’s “big four” state lenders to float shares — plans a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which it is estimated will raise more than 23 billion dollars. The bank said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange that it had set a price range of 2.52 to 2.68 yuan (37 to 39 US cents) a share for the Shanghai IPO.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that it would sell up to 25.57 billion shares in Shanghai, which would see it raise up to 68.5 billion yuan, or 10.1 billion dollars.

Last week, the bank set the range for the Hong Kong portion of the IPO at 2.88-3.48 Hong Kong dollars a share (37-44 US cents), which would raise as much as 13.08 billion US dollars, Dow Jones reported. This means AgBank’s monster share sale is now expected to overtake the 22-billion-dollar offering by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in 2006, which currently stands as the world’s largest.

Eleven so-called cornerstone investors — including Qatar’s sovereign investment fund, British bank Standard Chartered and Hong Kong’s richest tycoon Li Ka-shing — are pouring money into the massive sale, ahead of the bank’s trading debut in Hong Kong and Shanghai next month.

Estimates for the IPO — which starts Wednesday — had ranged from about 19 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars as market volatility left a key question mark over the sale’s chances of smashing previous records. Some analysts consider the rural lender to be the weakest of China’s big banks owing mainly to its bad-loan burden.

But investor optimism that markets may have bottomed out could help the sale, said Aaron Boesky, chief executive of China- focused hedge fund Marco Polo Investments. “Retail interest should surprise on the upside, based on cheap pricing and current perceptions regarding a bottom in the market,” he told Dow Jones. The size of the cornerstone investors’ commitment — about 5.45 billion US dollars — combined with heavy interest from retail investors could make it tough for some institutional buyers to get their hands on a worthwhile chunk of the offering, Boesky added. “There will be little room for the mid- and small-size managers, which is shocking considering the size of the listing,” he was quoted as saying.

Other analysts noted however that the amount the sale looks set to raise is well off the highest earlier estimates. “I’m afraid investors aren’t keen on the bank’s agricultural- related businesses,” said Shen Jun, a strategist at BOC International (China) Ltd.

Analysts say the return on capital from rural loans is typically 20-30 percent less than that for loans in urban areas as the size of the loans is generally smaller and monitoring costs higher. The share sale comes after Hong Kong’s bourse, faced with growing competition from Shanghai in recent years, claimed top spot as the world’s largest IPO market last year, raising almost 32 billion US dollars. But market volatility has also seen several companies shelve Hong Kong IPOs in the past two months.

Swire Properties, a major real estate developer in the territory, aborted a planned 3.09-billion US
dollar share sale last month, just two days after Giti Tire, China’s largest tyre maker, shelved a 500-million dollar IPO.

Source: News Today, Bangladesh/6th Dec 2010

The Extra-ordinary Gene- ral Meeting of United Commercial Bank Ltd was held at Bashundhara Conference Centre, Dhaka on Sunday.

Chairman of the bank M A Hashem presided over the meeting, said a press release.

The shareholders present at the meeting approved the proposal of raising paid up capital of the bank by issuing right shares at the rate of 01(R):01, one right share for every one share having face value of Tk 100 at Tk 150 each including a premium of Tk 50 for each share on paid up capital subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as recommended by the Board of Directors of the Bank.

Kazi Enamul Hoque, Vice Chairman, Md Jahangir Alam Khan, Chairman of Audit Committee and Board of Directors Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury MP, M A Sabur, Hajee M A Kalam, Riyadh Zafar Chowdhury, Bazal Ahmed, Nurul Islam Chowdhury, Nasim Kalam and Imran Ahmed attended the meeting.

UCB Managing Director, M Shahjahan Bhuiyan and Additional Managing Director, Shafiqul Alam, Deputy Managing Directors, Muhammed Shahidul Islam, Mamun-ur Rashid, Mirza Mahmud Rafiqur Rahman and Md Shahed Jalal Chowdhury along with Senior Executives as well as a large number of shareholders were present in the EGM.

(M A Hashem, Chairman of United Commercial Bank Ltd, presiding over the Extra-ordinary General Meeting of the
bank at Bashundhara Conference Centre, held on Sunday)

Source: daily-sun, Bangladesh/6th Dec 2010

BRAC Bank on Sunday signed an agreement with Probhu Money Transfer of USA on transferring remittances to Bangladesh sent by non-resident Bangla-deshis (NRBs).

Devi Prakash Bhatta-chan, Chairman and President of Probhu Money Transfer and Khwaja Shahriar, Head of Cash Management, Custo-dial Services and Pro-bashi Banking of BRAC Bank signed an agree-ment on behalf of their respective organizations, said a press release.

Through this agree-ment, Prabhu Money Transfer will be able to reach to the deepest level of remittance recipients across Bangladesh thro-ugh over 1,800 delivery points of BRAC Bank.

(Devi Prakash Bhattachan, Chairman and President of Probhu Money Transfer, Khwaja Shahriar, Head of Cash Management of BRAC Bank, at a function in the city on Sunday.)

Source: daily-sun, Bangladesh/6th Dec 2010