Mir Akhter stocks max out on debut

Stocks of construction and engineering company Mir Akhter Hossain rose to the highest permissible level on its market debut yesterday all the while the index was witnessing a fall.

The rise was 50 per cent, the maximum allowed for a newly listed company for its first three days of trade as per a directive of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), taking the price to Tk 81.

Meanwhile, the DSEX, the Dhaka Stock Exchange's (DSE) benchmark index, dropped 35.1 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 5,564.69.

Despite the fall, there were a few sellers of the Mir stocks. At the end of the day, only 730 shares were traded worth Tk 60,000 on the DSE.

As the company attained attractive profits, investors are hopeful of its stocks garnering a good price, said Abdur Rahim, an IPO hunter.

The terminology denotes those investors who maintain a huge number of beneficiary owner accounts to get a hold of shares from initial public offerings (IPO).

"I think the company has potential so institutional investors will keep the shares in their account. The stock price will rise more," hoped Rahim.

For this reason, the IPO winners did not sell their shares on the first day, he added.

Mir raised Tk 125 crore in funds from the market to expand its business, purchase equipment and repay bank loans.

Its cut-off price was Tk 60, so general investors got shares at Tk 54 and institutional investors won the shares at their bidding price.

Turnover, an important indicator of the stock market, dropped 2 per cent, to Tk 702 crore yesterday.

Mir topped the gainers' list followed by Aramit Cement, GQ Ball Pen Industries, Alltex Industry and Meghna Condensed Milk Industries.

The stock market has been witnessing a falling trend in the last few days as many investors sold their shares to pocket their profits, said an analyst of an asset management company.

But a fall in turnover is not a good sign, he said, adding that investors should be patient with good stocks. He recommended avoiding buying junk stocks to safeguard investments.

Beximco topped the turnover list with trade worth Tk 128 crore followed by British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Robi Axiata and LankaBangla Finance.

Eastern Insurance Company shed the most falling 6.90 per cent to Tk 94 followed by Provati Insurance Company, Savar Refractories, Asia Insurance and Shyampur Sugar Mills.

The port city bourse also dropped yesterday. The CASPI, the general index of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), fell 99 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 16,197.

Among 240 stocks witnessing trade, 71 rose, 105 dropped and 64 remained the same.