The government decision to offload shares of state-owned enterprises (SoEs) under an economic reform recipe has yet to be followed up with tangible progress despite repeated directives from the high-ups, official sources have said.
At least 15 out of the total 26 SoEs chosen for offloading of their stakes even did not contact the ICB Capital Management (ICM), the issue manager, in the share- offloading process.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) early June asked the authorities of the SoEs to expedite the process of divesting shares in the stock market. The ministry also asked them to inform it about the progress in the share offloading process on a regular basis.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a recent meeting with the boards of directors of demutualised stock exchanges said the process of bringing SoEs in the bourses halted as the markets saw volatility in 2010 and in its aftermath. Now, he said, the enterprises could be brought to the market, since the market had 'become stable'.
A senior MoF official told the FE that many of the SoEs were unfit for offloading shares since they were incurring losses.
"A loss-making concern can't be listed with the bourses according to the IPO (initial public offering) policy," he said.
He said: "We also sent a checklist to all the 26 SoEs asking them to inform us about their financial position, and progresses so far made in offloading shares."
Officials at the ICM said some of the SoEs had started internal work relating to the offloading of shares but that did not get any good shape, as yet.
A senior ICM official said many companies which were supposed to go public were yet to communicate with the issue manager. "But we heard that many of them were taking necessary preparations to go public."
Sources said the ICM had submitted necessary documents to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) operators for offloading the shares of Essential Drugs Company under the direct listing method.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas, an energy-sector state-owned company, would soon submit documents to the ICM to take necessary actions for offloading shares, he added.
The companies which are yet to submit any document to the ICM for the purpose of share offloading are: Bakhrabad Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Gas Transmission Company, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Pashchimanchal Gas Company, Sylhet Gas Fields Company, Bangladesh Gas Fields, Hotel International (Sonargaon Hotel), Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Teletalk Bangladesh, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL), Bangladesh Cable Industries Ltd, and Bangladesh Telephone Shilpa Sangstha.
Sources said the activities relating to offloading shares of Ruposhi Bangla Hotel (Sheraton Hotel) would remain suspended until the company's branding process was completed.
Enterprises like Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Dhaka Electric Supply Company and Power Greed Company of Bangladesh have offloaded shares once and are supposed to release more shares for trading in the future.
Chief executive officer of the ICM Md. Moshiur Rahman told the FE steps relating to offloading shares of SoEs were being taken in accordance with the government's directives.
Asked about the reasons for delay in bringing the SoEs in the market, he said: "I am unaware of any reason or any internal problem of the companies making the delay."
Mr Rahman, however, expressed optimism that the share-offloading process of some companies would be completed within the current year.
"We are constantly communicating with the SoEs to complete their preparations for offloading shares," he added.
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