Ahsan Habib

The real estate sector and its subsectors are struggling to maintain their growth due to the economic slowdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic, exemplified by a slump in earnings by most of the listed companies connected to construction.

British American Tobacco’s profit grew a whopping 69 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 on the back of lower operating costs whereas most companies bled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government’s decision to use the surplus funds of state-run companies, including listed ones, is eroding investor confidence as the move will reduce profits of the companies, according to market analysts.

Eastern Bank’s profits grew at a handsome rate in 2019 thanks to a higher recovery from written-off and classified loans, new client acquisition and deeper penetration both in retail and SME segments despite it being a challenging year for almost every financial institution.

While others have been slowly but surely drawing in new clients, one insurer has been showcasing a dismal performance to such an extent that its gross premium in 2018 reached half of what it was five years back.

The board of directors of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has reported irregularities in posting and paying employees at the bourse that have ultimately increased costs amid decreased output.

Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh witnessed a slump in profits during the third quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2019-20 following reduced sales of prescription medicine amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Companies must innovate, manage expenditure meticulously and ensure the safety of employees to survive in the post-pandemic era, said a top executive of Berger Paints Bangladesh.

Pharmaceuticals turned out to be the most attractive sector in the stock market yesterday thanks to the continuation of the industry’s solid business amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is taking strict measures to maintain minimum shareholding among directors of listed companies in a bid to revive the country’s stock index.

Stock investors of CVO Petrochemical Refinery have been in a flap as the company has announced to close operations for at least three months due to a shortage of condensate, a gas by-product used as a key raw material by refineries.

The government is being deprived of hundreds of crores of taka every year in dividend income from listed state-run companies as no shares are issued against the government’s investment in those companies.

Most banks’ operating profits declined 20 to 30 per cent in the first half of 2020 because of the paralysed economy but the fall did not reflect properly in their stock prices owing to the floor price.

A decade ago, a verbal directive from the regulator to stop the practice of forced-sale hit the stock market hard and the impacts are still being felt these days.

Bank Asia is set to form a neobank, a thoroughly novel concept for Bangladesh, within December, in a move that can change the face of banking in the country.

At a time when most companies are grappling with the economic fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic, local giant Beximco Group, it seems, is doing rather well for itself.

Fourteen banks have together formed a Tk 1,650 crore fund to invest in the stock market but they are now waiting for the lifting of the floor price that the market watchdog set for all stocks earlier.

Small capital-based Sonali Paper & Board Mill’s re-listing on the mainboard of the Dhaka Stock Exchange has raised questions as the regulator granted an exemption to it to pave the way for the resumption of its trading.

Robi is set to come up with the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering yet within a couple of months, in what can be viewed as finally some good news for the depressed bourse.

Liquidity management in the banking sector will become a challenging task in the near future due to the coronavirus fallout, said Mominul Islam, managing director of IPDC Finance.