56 companies listed on bourses in four years

The stock exchanges added 56 new companies to their rosters in the last four years, the finance minister said yesterday.

Of the firms, 37 companies were listed with premium pricing and 19 were taken up on face value, AMA Muhith said in parliament while replying to lawmakers' queries.

All the initial public offerings with premium pricing were 10 to 40 times oversubscribed during the subscription, he said.

It is not possible to restrict the companies from using premium pricing as it is an internationally recognised process, he added.

Moreover, the scope of premium pricing encourages companies with good fundamentals to get listed, he said.

Muhith said there will always be market swings and it is a natural phenomenon that some investors will gain and some others will lose. So investors should look into company fundamentals before investing in stocks, he said.

However, the capital market is now stable and the government is implementing different reforms to maintain stability, according to Muhith. Currently, 66 companies are listed on the OTC (over-the-counter) market, which is a separate trading platform for junk companies.