Desco to issue 23.81 lakh preference shares

Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (Desco) has received regulatory approval to issue over 23.81 lakh irredeemable non-cumulative preference shares in favour of the government.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), through a letter, gave its consent for the issuance of the preference shares at a face value of Tk 10 each, according to a filing on the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday.

The total value of the issuance stands at Tk 2.38 crore.

The shares will be issued in favour of the government, represented by the secretary of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, against the government's equity stake in the power distributor. Irredeemable non-cumulative preference shares are a category of preferred stock that do not carry a fixed redemption date and do not accumulate unpaid dividends.

As of April 30, government ownership in Desco stood at 67.66 percent, while institutional investors held 23.66 percent, foreign investors 0.04 percent, and general public shareholders 8.64 percent, according to DSE data.