Stocks
Apex Foods or DSE: Who’s Concealing Information?
Allegations of insider trading have surfaced against Apex Foods Limited, a company listed on the stock market in the country. Recently, there has been a sudden surge in shareholding by the company’s executives, leading to speculation among market participants.
The company claims that the sudden increase in shareholding by more than 17 percent occurred due to the inclusion of the chairman’s wife in the board of directors. The matter has been brought to the attention of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) by the company. However, the DSE states that they have not received any information from the company regarding this issue. Investors are skeptical and uncertain about these developments, and the company’s shareholders are also expressing concerns.
Apex Foods has violated Section 1 of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2015 Law by failing to disclose sensitive information promptly. According to the directive, every listed issuer on the stock exchange must promptly notify the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the relevant stock exchange (if listed on both exchanges) in writing, signed by the Chairman, CEO, or Company Secretary, along with fax and special message delivery, or courier service if available, within thirty minutes of making any material price-sensitive information available or coming into effect. The information must also be published immediately in two widely circulated daily newspapers (one in Bengali and the other in English) and an online publication to ensure maximum dissemination.
On the other hand, investors have also accused Apex Foods of violating privacy by holding a board meeting on April 20 without informing them. Although there is a provision to inform the investors about the decision of the management board by April 20, the investors still do not know about the matter. In addition, the company’s share price has increased by Tk 141.50 or 46.22% as a percentage since the company’s board meeting.
The owners and directors of Apex Foods have not made any announcement regarding the increase in their shareholding, despite their ownership share in the company increasing. The Dhaka Stock Exchange website did not show any announcement from the company regarding the purchase of shares last month. However, it was suddenly discovered that the owners and directors had acquired a significant number of shares, although there was no explanation given on the DSE website.
When asked about this, the company’s secretary Kamrul Islam stated to the news media Orthosongbad that the owners and directors did not purchase any shares. Therefore, there is no such information available on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. However, the wife of the company’s chairman, Jafar Ahmed, held 17.33% of the shares. She was previously a regular shareholder but was recently included in the board of directors. As a result, her shares are now combined with those of the owners and directors.
He further stated that the matter of appointing the chairman’s wife to the company’s board of directors was communicated to the DSE two or three days ago. Although the information was conveyed to the DSE regarding the inclusion of the chairman’s wife in the board of directors of Apex Foods, it has not been publicized through the trading system by the exchange.
The Managing Director of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, Mr. M. Saifur Rahman Majumdar, stated that the DSE was not informed by the company about the appointment of new directors in Apex Foods. Only the shareholder position is reported to the DSE at the end of each month, and the shareholder position has been updated accordingly. Apex Foods will be blamed as to why the appointment of the new director was not informed to DSE.
According to sources, Apex Foods had a shareholding of 36.06% among the company’s directors and executives until June 30, 2022, as stated on the DSE website. The same amount of shares was also held by the company’s directors and executives in the following year’s March. However, based on the recent information provided to the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Apex Foods website, the company’s directors and executives currently hold 30 lakh 44 thousand 450 shares, which accounts for 53.39% of the total shares. Therefore, there has been an increase of 17.33% in the shareholding of the company’s directors and executives within a month.
Dhaka Stock Market DSE, Bourse on the second working day of the week, 30th September, ended with a negative performance in Indices and a hike in Turnover from the previous working session. This information is known from DSE sources.
503 crore 90 lakh taka shares were traded on this day. 22 crore 58 lakh more tradings were done in DSE today compared to the previous workday, 29th September, Shares worth Tk 481 crores 31 lakh shares were traded last time, Sunday.
The benchmark DSEX lost 33.61 points or 5,624 The Shariah-based index DSES dropped 7.36 point or 1,263 and the blue-chip index DS30 decreased by 9.57 points or 2,053.
Of the issues traded, 72 advanced, 299 declined and 25 remained unchanged.
Shahjibazar Power Company Limited ranked top gainer on DSE, the share price increased by Tk 4.00 paisa or 9.76 percent. On this day, the share was last traded at Tk 45.00 paisa.
Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited ranked top loser on the DSE, the share price dropped by Tk 1.80 paisa or 7.56 percent. On this day, the share was last traded at Tk 22.00 paisa.
DSE topped on trade is Pragati Life Insurance Limited 25 crore 35 lakh takas of company shares have been traded.
A total of 27 companies’ shares were traded in the Block on Dhaka Stock Exchange. A total of 1 crore 50 lakh 42 thousand 956 shares of the companies were traded. The financial value of which is 65 crore 60 lakh taka
One of the Listed companies, National Polymer Limited has recommended 10.50% Cash Dividend for the year ended June 30, 2024.
It has reported Consolidated EPS of Tk 2.27 paisa, and Consolidated NAV per share of Tk 30.63 for the year ended March 31, 2024.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company will be held on December 18, through the digital platform. The record date for this has been fixed at October 22.
The Company also discloses its financial reports for the second quarter, (April – June 24).
As per the company’s consolidated life revenue account for April to June 2024, the excess of total income over total expenses, including claims (surplus), stood at Tk 1,394.24 million. This marks a significant increase from the surplus of Tk 823.68 million during the same period in 2023.
For the first half of 2024, from January to June, the company reported a surplus of Tk 2,177.57 million, compared to Tk 1,290.39 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Additionally, the Life Insurance Fund balance as of June 30, 2024, reached Tk 55,188.62 million, showing a net increase of Tk 5,892.25 million from Tk 49,296.37 million on June 30, 2023.
One of the Listed companies, Beacon Pharmaceuticals PLC has recommended 20% Cash dividend and 10% Cash Dividend to Sponsor Shareholder and Directors for the year ended June 30, 2024.
It has reported EPS of Tk 2.26 paisa, and NAV per share of Tk. 26.37 for the year ended June 30, 2024.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company will be held on December 23, through the digital platform. The record date for this has been fixed at October 27.
