Unusual rise in share price continues

The price of shares of Monno Jute Stafflers has continued to soar unusually, unaffected by the formation of a committee by the capital market regulator to conduct an investigation.

The share price has rocketed 373.38 percent in the past three months. Yesterday alone it jumped 5 percent or Tk 172.60 to finally stand at Tk 3,624.70 before the transactions got halted at one point for the absence of sellers.

Now the company's share tops Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) price-wise, beating out renowned companies like Berger Paints, Bata Shoes, Renata, Marico Bangladesh, GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission formed the committee on June 21 to investigate unusual and suspicious transactions conducted by the Commerce Bank Securities and Investment Ltd in favour of its clients and related parties regarding the securities.

The authority of Monno Jute Stafflers informed through the DSE that there was no undisclosed price sensitive information, except that the company's board had decided to increase authorised capital from Tk 1 crore to Tk 100 crore.

Market analysts said the share price cannot soar at such speed solely based on this information and that some other element was at play as the number of shares was very limited.

Of the 4.6 lakh shares, 55.90 percent are in the hands of sponsors.

In July 2017-March 2018, the earnings per share of Monno Jute Stafflers was Tk 2.95 while the amount reached Tk 77.10 for Berger Paints, Tk 52.15 for Marico Bangladesh (year ending on March 31), Tk 12.86 for Bata Shoes, Tk 11.06 for Renata, Tk 11.49 for GlaxoSmithKline and Tk 7.34 for Reckitt Benckiser, all in the first quarter of 2018.