Sponsor-directors offload a big chunk of their holdings in 3 yrs

---

Mohammad Mufazzal The sponsor-directors of 206 listed firms sold or transferred as gift more than 267.8 million shares from their holdings, but bought only 32.78 million shares of their companies in the last three years, officials said Tuesday. The volume of stocks sold by them between 2009 and 2011 was a staggering 716.96 per cent higher than that they purchased, reflecting the bonanza many of these sponsor-directors enjoyed during the period. The sell pressure by the sponsor-directors was stronger during the bull-run in 2010 and they sustained it in 2011 when the market made a steep decline, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) officials said, analysing the data of the past three years. The list of top sellers included sponsor-directors of almost every major area of the economy including banking, textile, insurance, non-banking financials, engineering, pharmaceuticals and food sectors. The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) made the calculation based on the information provided by respective companies in line with a notification recently issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As per the DSE data, the sponsor-directors of listed companies sold or transferred more than 62.04 million shares in 2009, 103 million in 2010 and 102.74 million in 2011. The DSE also calculated the number of directors as per the company papers that were made in proper format. According to the DSE, 413 directors have a holding of less than or equivalent to 0.1 per cent shares in their respective listed firms. This list excludes the independent or nominated directors and depositors. Similarly, the number of directors who own less than or equivalent to 0.5 per cent shares is 771. The number of directors who own less than or equivalent to 1.0 per cent shares is 1092. A total of 1,491 directors own less than or equivalent to two per cent shares. And the number of companies whose sponsor-directors hold less than 30 per cent stakes is a meagre 38. As per DSE data, the sponsor-directors of Agni Systems sold out more than 3.37 million shares from January 10 to April 4, 2010. During the heyday of the market in 2010, the sponsor-directors of LankaBangla Finance sold 9.41 million shares, Makson Spinning Mills 5.14 million, Al-Arafah Islami Bank 5.67 million and Metro Spinning Mills 4.43 million. Aftab Automobiles sponsor-directors sold 0.13 million, Bank Asia 0.57 million, Bay Leasing 0.32 million, Beach Hatchery 4.61 million, BRAC Bank 1.7 million, Exim Bank 3.0 million, Dhaka Bank 1.19 million, Fareast Islami Life Insurance 1.58 million, Fine Foods 1.16 million, Fu Wang Food 3.4 million, International Leasing 2.31 million and NCC Bank 2.53 million.