Stocks fall on weak corporate declarations

Dhaka stocks slid in the past week after gaining significantly in the week before as investors went for share sales amid disappointing corporate declarations by a number of companies, including the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Grameenphone, ACI and MI Cement. DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 0.98 per cent or 44.24 points, to close at 4,469.66 points on the last trading session of the past week on Thursday, after gaining 364.06 points in the week before. Before the gain in the week before the past week, the DSEX plunged by 309.5 points in two weeks. The core index lost in most of the sessions as the investors became cautious after a number of large capitalised companies reported poor financial results. Over the past week, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, ACI Limited, MI Cement and Standard Ceramics declared losses in the quarter ending in December 2019. ACI Limited and ICB declared losses worth Tk 12.2 per share and Tk 1.96 per share respectively for the July-December 2019 period against slim profits reported in the same period of the previous year. MI Cement declared a loss of Tk 1.80 per share in the September-December 2019 period against Tk 0.31 earnings per share in the same period in the previous year. Share prices of ICB, MI Cement and ACI plunged by 12.51 per cent, 10.10 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively over the past week. Share prices of Grameenphone sank by 5.2 per cent in the week as the company announced a total of 130-per cent cash dividend for 2019 against the 280-per cent cash dividend declared for the previous year. Profits of Meghna Petroleum, Padma Oil, Jamuna Oil, Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills and BSRM Steel plunged in the July-December 2019 period compared with earnings reported for the same period in 2018.

Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/98335/stocks-fall-on-weak-corporate-declarations

Deposit growth in banks rises further in Nov as NSC sales plunge

The growth in deposit in the country’s banking sector increased to 12.88 per cent in November last year as savers returned to banks after the government in the budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal doubled tax on interest earnings from the national savings certificates. Besides, automation of the NSC sales system prevented a section of savers including institutions and high net worth individuals from purchasing NSCs beyond the allowable limit. As a result, those high net worth individuals and entities channelled their funds into bank deposits. Bankers and economists, however, cautioned that the deposit growth might face a slowdown in the coming days as the bankers have recently agreed to bring down interest rate against deposits to 6 per cent from February 1. The decision was made as part of the government’s initiate to bring down lending rate to 9 per cent from April 1. In October last year, the deposit growth was 12.19 per cent. In November of FY20, deposits in the banking sector stood at Tk 11, 19,487.9 crore, increasing by Tk 1, 27,797.5 crore from Tk 9,91,690.4 crore at the end of November of FY 2018-19. In July-November of FY20, the government’s net sales of NSCs dropped by 73.03 per cent to Tk 5,841.64 crore from Tk 21,661.93 crore in the same period of FY19.

Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/98209/deposit-growth-in-banks-rises-further-in-nov-as-nsc-sales-plunge

MNCs see mixed performance

Listed multinational companies (MNCs) performed mixed in last week amid price corrections witnessed by many local companies. The local companies witnessed price corrections as their earnings declined for October-December, 2019. On the other hand, the share rice of above 50 per cent listed MNCs advanced in five sessions executed in last week on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Of the MNCs, the share price of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh advanced 12.27 per cent or Tk 5.5 and closed at Tk 50.30 each on Thursday. Of other companies, the share price of Grameenphone declined 5.22 per cent or Tk 14.20 to close at Tk 257.80 each as the company recommended lower dividend for the shareholders. At the end of the week, the share price of Marico Bangladesh closed at Tk 1699.90 each with a rise of 2.63 per cent or Tk 43.60. The company also reported its EPS of Tk. 19.68 for October-December 2019 as against Tk. 16.47 for October-December 2018. The share price of Berger Paints Bangladesh rose 1.45 per cent or Tk 20.20 to close at Tk 1407.80 each on Thursday. The price of Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) advanced 2.55 per cent or Tk 18.80 to close at Tk 753.60 each. The price of Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh closed at Tk 150.60 each on Thursday with a loss of 5.63 per cent or Tk 9.0 from the closing price of the previous week. The share price of Reckitt Benckiser (Bd.) advanced 2.39 per cent or Tk 70 to close at Tk 3009.40 each on Thursday. The price of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Bangladesh closed at Tk 1730.8 each on Thursday with a rise of 4.67 per cent or Tk 77.30. On Thursday, the share price of British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company closed at Tk 1073.40 each with a rise of 4.04 per cent or Tk 41.70 from the closing price of the previous week.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/mncs-see-mixed-performance-1580570886