Ahsan Habib

While most listed companies struggled to raise profits in the first half of 2022-23 owing to higher petroleum prices, listed state-run oil companies in Bangladesh saw a staggering double-digit growth in earnings.

At least 43 listed companies and mutual funds fell to losses in July to December of the ongoing financial year after reporting profits in the identical half a year ago. 

Around 70 per cent of listed companies in Bangladesh either suffered losses or witnessed lower profit in the July to December period of the current financial year due to the surge in production costs, the sharp depreciation of the local currency and lower consumption.

Says Meghna Bank MD and CEO Sohail RK Hussain

By removing the floor price for nearly half of the companies listed in the country in December while retaining the regulatory measure for the rest, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has effectively moved to a dual system. 

As the US dollar shortage persists, businesses in Bangladesh are increasingly finding it difficult to open letters of credit (LCs) since banks can’t supply the adequate American greenback needed to finance imports.

Bangladesh’s largest retail chain Shwapno registered 31 per cent year-on-year growth in sales in the July to December period of 2022-23.

Bangladesh’s largest retail chain Shwapno registered 31 per cent year-on-year growth in sales in the July to December period of 2022-23.

In the face of a soaring cost of living, many low and middle-income people in Bangladesh have either ditched branded products or switched to smaller packs, causing consumer goods producers and marketers to record a slowdown in sales in 2022. 

The pharmaceuticals industry, which has made life-saving drugs available at lower costs, is facing troubles in opening letters of credit (LCs) to import much-needed raw materials and capital machinery owing to the US dollar crunch. 

Four state-run commercial banks (SCBs) in Bangladesh are struggling to generate revenue from their core business of lending due to voluminous non-performing loans and the lending rate ceiling.

Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation, a listed non-bank financial institution in Bangladesh, recently announced that it has decided to change its name by adding PLC as a suffix. 

While most stocks in Bangladesh remain bearish, some surged in the first half of January fuelled by rumours.

Most of the global stock indices plunged last March when the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated but they took only two months before bouncing back despite the conflict-induced turmoil worldwide.

One-third of the listed banks in Bangladesh, especially the shariah-based lenders, suffered a drop in profits in the last five years due to the deterioration in their asset quality, higher non-performing loans, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In another financial felony in Bangladesh, UFS Asset Management has embezzled Tk 158 crore in investors’ funds, according to a probe of the stock market regulator.

Major indices of the stock market in Bangladesh mostly saw decline throughout the outgoing year while turnover also took a plunge amid the gloomy economic scenario.

The number of beneficiary owners (BO) accounts has decreased over the last six months in spite of the advent of 60 new stockbrokers in the stock market amidst expectations that the number of investors would increase. 

The biggest challenge the stock market faced in the outgoing year was floor price as the artificial mechanism made the whole market illiquid and shattered investors’ confidence amid the gloomy economic trends. 

Brokerage houses are in dire straits meeting their operating costs as low turnovers are leaving a massive dent in their incomes.