Share trading of the ICB Islami Bank Limited, formerly known as Oriental Bank, will resume tomorrow (Tuesday) after a gap of 24 months and three days as the securities regulator lifted the trade suspension order Sunday.
On the other hand, share trading of the state-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) will begin on June 29 under direct listing regulations, officials said on the day.
The trading of Oriental Bank shares has been remaining suspended since June 21, 2006 as the Bangladesh Bank (BB) appointed an administrator for the bank following detection of serious financial irregularities in the bank.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in an emergency meeting held Sunday with its chairman Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi in the chair, lifted its earlier share trading suspension order on the ICB Islami Bank Ltd.
Instantly after the meeting, it issued letters asking both Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) to resume share trading of the bank tomorrow (Tuesday), sources said.
The bank submitted documents related to its share allotment to the SEC earlier on Thursday.
Till date, more than 2.58 million shares of the bank have been held in 2,287 Beneficiary Owners (BO) accounts under the central depository system (CDS).
Of the shares, 0.215 million are held by the general shareholders, of which, 6,000 have so far been demated.
On a request of BB, the SEC suspended share trading of the Oriental Bank preventing sponsors or directors from selling off their shares of the bank to protect the interest of general shareholders.
In February last, the ICB Financial Holdings Group of Malaysia bought more than 50 per cent shares of the troubled Oriental Bank offering the highest bid of Tk 3.506 billion, paving the way for resumption of its share trading.
The bank raised its paid-up capital to Tk 6.60 billion from more than Tk 520 million.
Listed with the DSE on February 19, 1990, the bank has been grouped in the Z category.
A total of 360 shares of the bank were traded on the DSE in one-hour trade with a price fall by 1.87 per cent on its last trading day.
The share price of the bank was Tk 928.00 when the trading was suspended two years ago.
The bank remained in the problem bank category since 1994. Between 2002 and 2005, its financial situation deteriorated further as a section of directors continued to take fictitious loans.
However, share trading of Titas will make its debut on June 29 next.
'The share trading of Titas will start on DSE on June 29 next as the financial documents of the gas distribution company will be submitted Tuesday next,' said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, DSE chief executive officer (CEO).
This will be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the stock market as far as the public portion is concerned after the Shahjalal Bank Limited that went public in early 2007 floating Tk 935.82 million shares.
The gas distribution company would float over 21.55 million shares worth Tk 2.155 billion in the stock market. It will offload 25 per cent of its stake in both the stock markets with the face value of Tk 100 per share.
Under the existing trading system, trading of the Titas Gas will be held in spot market up to 12.00 pm for the first two working days. First ten minutes of the first trading day will be considered as price building period and thereafter from the 11th minute the ICB Securities Trading Co. Limited will start selling at best market price.
Then, trading will remain closed on the third day to allow the market to distribute the shares traded on the first two days.
An investor will be allowed to place an order for minimum 200 shares and maximum 1,000 shares for each order for the first five days.
No investor will be allowed to sell his shares in first two days. The first two days of spot market will not be included in the index. The Circuit Breaker (CB) and the Circuit Filter (CF) will remain open for the first five days. After first two days of spot trading, the company will be traded in public, odd and bloc market during normal trading hours and be included in the index.
