DSE asked to investigate Shyampur Sugar's stock rally
The securities regulator has ordered the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to investigate the trading in Shyampur Sugar Mills shares that took place since 17 September.
In a letter to the premier bourse on Sunday, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said the state-owned sugar mill's shares were trading at Tk92 apiece on 17 September that surged to over Tk156 on 26 October.
However, the stock further surged to Tk245 on 19 November and following a correction from there, closed at Tk179 on Sunday.
The regulator's surveillance department asked the DSE to submit its investigation report by 20 working days.
Shyampur Sugar Mills, where the government owns 51% stake, is one of the biggest listed money losers as the company is losing 4-12 times of its paid-up capital every year and continuously failing to pay dividends to shareholders.
Due to excessive production costs, the government in the mid-2020 stopped production in the sugar mill and its losses started to come down from the 2021-22 fiscal year.
In the 2022-23 fiscal year, its net loss per share came down to Tk43.62, which was Tk53.03 in the previous fiscal year, and Tk125.14 in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Against each share having a face value of Tk10, the firm's net liability per share stood at Tk1211.21 at the end of last June.
Institutional investors hold 4.05% shares of Shyampur Sugar Mills, while 44.95% shares are owned by the general public, according to the DSE.
The stock market, choked on the floor price, has mostly come through rallies in shares of some small-cap, troubled companies this year.
Shares of several loss-making or inoperative firms had been the biggest winners while the overall market was struggling.