RAK Ceramics price down on company share sell-out news to Julphar

The stock price of RAK Ceramics declined to Tk 57.8 per share today (Tuesday) against Tk 60.9 of yesterday despite the disclosure that Middle-Eastern drug manufacturer Julphar and its partners will acquire a 77.5 percent stake in RAK Pharmaceuticals. UAE-based Julphar will bear some liabilities of RAK Pharmaceuticals, with 55 percent of its shares owned by RAK Ceramics, a listed company in Bangladesh. Julphar will invest around $9.5 million to acquire the shares and settle the liabilities, RAK Ceramics said in a posting on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website Monday. RAK Ceramics will transfer its entire holding of 5.17 crore ordinary shares of RAK Pharmaceuticals to Julphar for Tk 7 each share -- all amounting to Tk 36.19 crore. An independent value assessor determined the transfer value, RAK Ceramics said, adding that the matter has been approved by the company's board of directors. RAK Ceramics, a Bangladesh-UAE joint venture, was listed on the stockmarket in 2010. Each share of the tiles and sanitary-ware manufacturer traded between Tk 60.1 and Tk 60.9, before closing at Tk 64.9 yesterday. The company's net profit fell 11.53 percent year-on-year to Tk 42.48 crore in January-September, with Tk 1.26 in earnings per share compared to Tk 1.43 a year ago.