Navana CNG hits two bourses with minor jolt

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Kayes M Sohel
Navana CNG made an 'inglorious' direct listing debut on the country's two bourses Sunday as trading of the leading gas refilling service provider was halted for 90 minutes due to 'unlawful sale' order from three brokers.
The brokers- Rashid Investment Services, Total Communication and Multi Securities and Services-denied the allegation, saying their computer operators mistakenly gave the sale orders at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
According to the direct listing rules, no brokers other than designated selling agents are allowed to sell shares of companies floated under the direct listing rules. Navana's agents are ICB and Sharp Securities.
The DSE had earlier warned that any sale from the brokerage houses except selling agents for the first trading day would result in 100 per cent penalty for the unauthorized brokers.
Fines were immediately slapped on the three brokerage houses which have placed selling orders for 700 shares. The securities regulator has also slapped show-cause notices on the three.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued letters asking them to explain the reason behind the sale orders of Navana CNG shares," said Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan, executive director of the SEC.
Ahmed Rashid, managing director of Rashid Investment Services, one of the three brokers fined for rules breaking, said the mistake was unintentional.
"Our computer operators mistakenly gave the sale orders. It was purely a slip-up," he said, and urged the DSE authorities to buy sophisticated software, which would automatically stop unauthorized sale orders from brokers.
Despite the minor jolt, a total 1657800 Navana CNG shares worth Tk 315.78 million changed hands on the day at the DSE, the first day of the week, making it top turnover leader. But spot market trading of Navana stocks on the first day was not included in the DSE indices.
The opening price of the new entrant was Tk 181 a share and it gained 1710 per cent on its face value to close at Tk 193.90 per share. During the mid-session the value peaked as high as Tk 270 for a while.
The entry of Navana brings the number of directly listed shares to eight and the total number of floated companies to 284 at the DSE. Navana also made debut on the Chittagong Stock Exchange on the same day.
Navana's arrival also led to a fractional slide in stock prices for the third consecutive session as the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) shed 11.50 points or 0.38 per cent to end at 2966.21, erasing a morning
gains of 12 points.
Brokers said the market was down as investors sold off their other shares to use the cash to buy Navana CNG stocks on spot orders. As a result, the day's turnover dropped sharply by 23 per cent to Tk 3.94 billion.
Trading of Navana shares will remain suspended today as per listing regulations.
The broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) lost 9.60 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 2492.10. The DSE-20 (DS20) blue chip index dropped 4.00 points or 0.18 per cent to 2104.
Losers beat gainers as out of 234 issues traded, 77 issues gained, 152 lost and five remained unchanged.
Banks finished marginally higher with Rupali Bank gaining highest of 2.4 per cent. Non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) ended mixed while all mutual funds gained. Pharmaceuticals, insurances and energy sectors declined.