Business Supplement Issue-7

DT
VOL1, ISSUE 7 | Sunday, April 2, 2017
Business Tribune
Teletalk, all talk and no game
Dhaka Tribune
6
Stocks end in red, breaking
Who should we sell the state-
three-week streak 7 owned banks off to? Who cares?

2
Sunday, April 2, 2017
DT
Special
Interview
3
Sunday, April 2, 2017
DT
Teletalk, all talk and no game
• Ishtiaq Husain
Lack of efficient management, a
proper marketing plan, investment
and a strong network, as well as
endless bureaucratic red-tape have
resulted in making Teletalk, the
state-run mobile operator, a burden
for the Bangladesh government.
Since becoming a public limited
company in 2005, Teletalk has consistently
failed to turnover a profit
and has also neglected to pay its
dues to the Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission
(BTRC) for years, racking up
Tk1585.13 crore in fees.
Till date, the company has invested
Tk3,000 crore in operations
and has made a net loss of around
Tk400 crore.
According to Abu Sayeed Khan,
senior police fellow of LIRNEasia,
a Colombo based ICT thinktank,
Teletalk has failed purely because
it is owned by the government. Using
BRTC and Biman as examples,
he stated that any business entity
that is run by the government is
bound to fail.
With government bureaucrats
of different ministries making up
the board of directors with the
Telecommunication Division Secretary
as the chairman and other
government officials holding all
the top level positions, it is little
wonder that Teletalk has been an
unsuccessful venture, said Khan.
Since none of the top level administration
or the board of directors
have proper telecommunication
or business backgrounds, it is
hardly surprising that the organisation
does not have a proper marketing
plan or business strategy, he
Teletalk’s failed facelift
• Ishtiaq Husain
State-owned mobile operator Teletalk’s
low number of subscribers
is making their efforts to re-brand
themselves a struggle.
On March 8, 2016 it launched its
new logo with promises to restructure
how the company operates
and to make it into a profitable organisation.
However, over the past year,
there has been no substantial
change in its operational structure
or in its subscriber base.
According to Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission
(BTRC) sources, Teletalk had
4.25 million subscribers last year.
Three months after their
re-branding began, the mobile operator
saw a slight increase subscriber
numbers – 4.36 million in
April, 4.46 million in May and 4.49
million in June.
explained.
Teletalk’s first mistake came
soon after it launched its first mobile
packages in 2005 when it began
operations without first doing
a proper market survey.
At the time, it had projected
sales estimates of 2.5 million SIMs.
The reality was vastly different.
They ended with a number of subscribers
closer to 5 million. This
caused the company to hastily take
measures to provide another million
or so SIMs.
Irrespective of the comparative
edge that Teletalk enjoys over all
other telecommunication companies,
namely that it is given extra
consideration by the government,
it has still consistently failed to
take advantage of its situation.
In 2012, Teletalk was given permission
to launch 3G operations, a
full year before the formal auction
was announced to grant 3G capacity
to telecom operators. Even with
the time lead, Teletalk failed effectively
market their 3G connections
and gain a solid consumer base.
During the 2013 3G auction, four
private operators paid $20m each
for per Mhz 3G spectrum and also
deposited a total of $80m to the
BTRC to participate in the auction.
The state-owned operator, however,
was not required to pay any
However, by July these numbers
began to decrease again. By
August, their subscriber base had
drastically fallen to 2.92 million.
Looking into this drop in subscribers,
the Dhaka Tribune found
that even the company’s officials
could not agree on an exact cause.
Seeking anonymity, a Teletalk
official, told the Dhaka Tribune
that the company’s management
had only agreed to the re-branding
strategy because Posts and
Telecommunication State Minister
Tarana Halim had demanded it.
He claimed that the company
had launched the re-branding
without a proper marketing plan or
even proper investment.
“All we did was change our
logo and the slogan. Actually, we
changed our look but have made
zero qualitative changes in terms
of operations and structure.
“The only other decision made
MAJOR HURDLES
v Its structural hierarchy is made up of
government officials with no proper
telecom or business background
v Incorrect sales projections
v Lack of marketing plan
v Lack of big investment
v Failure in capitalising 3G network
v Racking up dues; operating at a loss
v Unable to capture 4G market
because of red-tape
v Does not take customer feedback
into account when customising
approach
v VoIP allegations
amount of money and was even
allowed to run 3G operations a year
before the rest.
Its second mistake was when,
with a budget of only Tk1,500 crore,
Teletalk was unable to properly extend
their 3G services throughout
Bangladesh due to constraints in
finances, according to an official of
the state-owned mobile operator.
Coming into the 3G game a year
later, other mobile operators only
took a year and a half to cover
all the district headquarters and
upazilas in Bangladesh.
The third strike against Teletalk
was the allegations that it was
involved with VoIP (voice over internet
protocol) and had allowed a
huge volume of illegal international
calls. To that end, back in 2005,
around 5 million SIMs of the telecom
had been blocked.
Then comes the money.
“Financing has also been a major
obstacle for Teletalk. Regardless
of the company authorities procure
finances from the company’s own
funds or borrow from a foreign
bank, Teletalk’s money has not
been well handled,” said a top official
of Teletalk.
Teletalk owes Tk94 crore, which
it took from customers, to the government
exchequer. It also spent
Tk8.40 crore to pay staff salaries
The lack of positive feedback from foreign investors and the dire
state that Teletalk appears to be in, suggest that the state-run
telecom’s days may be numbered
and Tk8 crore on advertising.
Though BTRC frequently
reminded Teletalk to pay its
long-standing dues, the operator
repeatedly ignored the reminders.
Ex-managing director of Teletalk,
Giasuddin Ahmed’s only
stance was that the matter of dues
was between BTRC and Teletalk,
and the government would need to
work it out.
Despite its financial issues, Teletalk
is attempting to move forward
with operations, now with a target
of providing 4G services for which
it has already allocated Tk4,600
crore. However, now, the main
disadvantage of being a government-run
organisation has revealed
was to increase the number of customer
care centres,” said the official.
Teletalk acting managing director
Kazi Md Golam Quddus, however,
had a different take on things.
“Re-branding Teletalk was not
as unsuccessful as some may believe.
The number of subscribers
did see an increase over a period,”
he said.
“The numbers started to fall
because of the re-registration process.
But the numbers are now
slowly increasing again.”
According to BTRC sources,
the number of subscribers had increased
to 3.79 million this January,
but dropped again to 3.73 million.
Industry insiders believe the
drop in subscriber numbers are due
to the recent mobile internet connectivity
issues Teletalk has been
experiencing.
A majority of Teletalk’s subscribers
are internet users since the operator
has affordable prices and stable
connectivity. A recent drop in
service quality and the company’s
lack in network coverage across the
country, however, is now forcing
existing subscribers to rethink.
Moreover, since the other mobile
phone operators in the country
have lowered their charges for mobile
internet, the state-owned company
is finding it hard to attract
new subscribers, they said.
Requesting anonymity, another
Teletalk official said the government
believed that re-branding
would come as a positive change
for the company and attract new
subscribers but the mobile operator’s
poor network coverage and reluctance
to upgrade was not being
well received by subscribers.
When the discussion regarding
re-branding was taking place, the
then Teletalk managing director,
Gias Uddin Ahmed, had suggested
itself: the bureaucratic red-tape.
While other operators are gearing
up for 4G, Teletalk has yet to
gain approval for the project.
Teletalk Acting Managing Director
Kazi Golam Kudduch said:
“We hope to be able to improve our
services, especially since our state
minister of Post and Telecommunication
seems so sincere about it.”
When assuming office as State
Minister for Posts and Telecommunication,
Tarana Halim had told
journalists that the government
would make the organization both
profitable and popular.
During her tenure, the government
has already approved a
3G network expansion project of
Tk675.81 crore which will be completed
by December, 2017.
As part of her plan, all the highways
of the country and 64 district
headquarters will have 3G service,
and the number of retailer points
will be increased from 39,000 to
77,000.
Twenty new customer care
points will also be opened. By
2018, all upazilas will also have 3G
service.
Since 2016, Tarana has tried to
garner foreign investment from
Singapore, Malaysia and India
to no avail. Though Indian business
conglomerate Tata originally
showed interest in investing in
Bangladesh’s telecommunication
industry, it has yet to take a step
toward that end.
Despite Tarana’s plans, the lack
of positive feedback from foreign
investors and the dire state that
Teletalk appears to be in, suggest
that the state-run telecom’s days
may be numbered. •
that the operator design different,
affordable packages.
However, the company has not
made any major changes in packages.
Sources also said that though
Tarana Halim had promised that
several new Teletalk customer care
centres would be inaugurated, the
initiative had made no progress
due to a lack of funding.
Just before the launching of the
re-branding programme, Tarana
had visited Malaysia and Singapore
to gather experience and observe
their state-owned telecommunication
businesses.
Irrespective of the re-branding
attempts and Tarana’s statement
that the government’s initiatives
would soon make Teletalk a leading
market player in the country’s
mobile industry, the state-owned
mobile operator has yet to make
any substantial progress. •
Building awareness a must to popularise e-ticketing
The government should allocate a large portion of tickets for private service providers and
use the entire media a tool for e-ticket commercial, Maliha Quadir, founding managing
director of Shohoz.com – Bangladesh’s premium online travel ticketing and reservation
service – tells the Dhaka Tribune’s Ibrahim Hossain Ovi in an exclusive interview
Maliha, an MBA from Harvard, has
been named Young Global Leader
of 2017 in Asian Countries by the
World Economic Forum (WEF) for
her efforts in digitising the ticketing
system in Bangladesh.
Your business is different from
other e-commerce. Tell about your
passion for the business that inspired
you to choose it.
I started my career in big corporate
house with responsibility in
information technology and digital
issues. Since then, I had a dream
to do something in Bangladesh,
which will make the sector digital.
I tried to do something, which will
help mass people. Since transportation
is an everyday need of people,
I considered it a business sector
since e-ticketing would make
easier for individuals to obtain
tickets sitting at home.
Transportation sector is a vital
sector. People in all walks of life
use different modes of transport
every day. On the other hand, due
to traffic congestion business persons
find it difficult to approach the
ticket counters to obtain tickets.
What are the challenges facing you
in doing business?
Operators especially the small ones
do not know about the system
while local operators outside Dhaka
are unwilling to introduce the
system. That is why penetration
is very tough while clients are not
accustomed to taking the services
from the e-commerce. To make
people aware and make them technologically
sound, we are investing
money in advertisement and training
also for marketing. Since there
is no existing market, we have to
go through huge arduous work to
create markets.
What are the challenges for a
woman to run such a business?
In Bangladesh, most of the businesses
are male-dominated, while
women did not run such business
earlier. As a result, people were not
primarily willing to take the services
from us, and sometimes they
failed to rely on us. This is a social
taboo, but I got lots of support from
the bus operators.
I always prefer taking challenges
and like to work in problemsolving
area. My work area was
e-commerce and digital services.
Since Bangladesh is working on
making a digitised country, from
that perspective, I have taken
the challenge to work on the
transportation sector.
Maliha Quadir
What should be the government
approach towards policy support
in promoting digital ticketing
system?
As the digital ticketing is new in
Bangladesh, the government can
allocate a larger portion of tickets
for private service providers to
make it popular. In this regard, the
government can introduce quota
especially for trains and steamers.
On the other hand, the government
can use tools like Bangladesh Television,
Radio and online media to
advertise e-ticketing and to inform
people of e-ticketing. The government
can also set aside an especial
allocation to make the transport
sector digitised.
What do you think about the
future start-up in Bangladesh?
In any country, there is a good future
for any start-up, but it should
start in a well-designed and perfect
way. Getting fund for any start-up
projects is tough in Bangladesh
compared to other countries like
India.
If the start-up entrepreneurs get
fund, there will be a huge opportunity
and they can come up with
new window of economic activities,
thus a lot of employment opportunities
will be created.
To make people aware and make them
technologically sound, we are investing
money in advertisement and training also
for marketing. Since there is no existing
market, we have to go through huge
arduous work to create markets
I think, any start-up should have
some experiences in the field it is
going to do business, or else, the
project can end up in failure.
Recently, you have received
an award titled “Young Global
Leader”, what do you think worked
behind your recognition?
In every country, there is indiscipline
and mismanagement in
transportation sector. Since I
worked a lot to bring a change to
the sector through digitisation, the
World Economic Forum might consider
it to appreciate my efforts and
they awarded me.....
Do you think that payment gateway
is a barrier to e-commerce business?
The existing payment system is
not an obstacle, but a problem for
e-commerce. There are problems
regarding the settlement, which
needs to be addressed while banks
and mobile financial service providers
should be more liberal and user
friendly so people can pay very easily
through new payment methods.
What are the main challenges to
popularising the digital ticketing
service?
The main challenge is to make people
understand that there is no risk
and it is hassle-free and build trust
in the service. I would like to assure
all that there is no risk as we
have invested a huge amount of
money in the business and we are
committed to providing the best
services we can. Another challenge
is the lack of technical knowledge
among the transport sector people,
Courtesy
but we are training them on how to
operate the system.
What is your future plan?
I dream a digitised ticketing system
through which people would
be able to get the tickets sitting at
home, as our daily life is turning
hectic every day.
What is your future plan in
expanding your business to rural
area?
People can now purchase ticket from
anywhere in Bangladesh, but there
are some problems like printing facilities
of online tickets. We are working
on how to reach people in remote
areas. Even we are mulling over appointing
local agents so people can
get help from their own areas.
How are the people’s response to
e-ticketing?
Though it was very tough to sell
tickets primarily, now we are getting
good and increasing responses
from our valued clients. People
are positive towards e-ticketing,
but they don’t know how to do buy
ticket online due to lack of technical
knowledge. Our young generation
is very active about the new
system. The future of business is
good but it would take time. •

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Sunday, April 2, 2017
DT
Week in Review
Corporate News
5
Sunday, April 2, 2017
DT
Internet users up by 466,000 in February
Bangladesh witnessed a
sharp rise of internet users by
466,000 in a month, as the
total number stood at 67.2m in
February compared to 66.7m in
January.
Among the total users,
mobile internet connection was
63.1m, according to the latest
statistics released by the Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission. In January,
the mobile internet connection
was 63m.
Besides, the number of
WiMAXsubcribers declined to
89,000 in February from the
91,000 in January. BTRC issued
LTE licence to the three BWA operators
– Banglalion, Qubee and
Ollo as the WiMAX technology
became obsolete globally.
However, the ISP and PSTN
internet connection rose to
403,000 in the month from
393,000 in previous month.
On the other hand, the number
of mobile phone subscribers
increased by 130,000 in February,
as the total number stood at
129.5m from 128.2m in January.
The market leader Grameenphone
bagged 61,000 subscribers
to 59.3m with the country’s
oldest operator Citycell having
lowest number of subscribers. It
saw no new subscribers.
Robi and Airtel secured the
second position in the number of
users after merger.
Robi’s subscribers’ base stood
at 35.2m with Airtel’s 820,000. •
Courtesy
IDLC Finance Limited has recently held its 32th annual general meeting, said a press release. The
company’s chairperson, Aziz Al Mahmood presided over the meeting
Mercantile Bank Limited has recently held its 18th annual general meeting, said a press release. The
bank’s chairperson, Shahidul Ahsan presided over the meeting
Lotto has recently opened an outlet in Mymensignh town, said a press release. The outlet was
inaugurated by André Lango, area manager of Lotto Italy and Kazi Jamil Islam, MD of Lotto Bangladesh
Muhith: NBR failing to convince business
about new VAT law
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the
National Board of Revenue has some
weaknesses in negotiating with businessmen
about new value-added tax
law to be effective from July 1.
Local businesses have long been
demanding multiple VAT rates instead of
a single 15% VAT rate under the new law.
“Businessmen have agreed on new
VAT law at a meeting with the NBR. But
minutes later they changed their stance,”
Muhith told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
“This reflects the shortcomings of
NBR in implementing the new law,”
he said. “This weakness should be
removed.”
The new VAT law is intended to
ensure better services to the taxpayers
and increase revenue collection with
transparency and accountability in the
process, officials said.
Last week the NBR formally inaugurated
the online VAT payment system to
enable businesses to complete VAT-related
tasks and deposit the tax online.
“From now on, the taxpayers will pay
VAT online,” said finance minister at the
inauguration.
The launch of the much talked-about
online VAT system took place years after
the NBR took the scheme to automate
its VAT administration and implement
a new VAT law by replacing the existing
VAT Act 1991. •
Ecnec approves 12 projects
involving over Tk10cr
The Executive Committee of the
National Economic Council (Ecnec)
on March 28 approved 12 projects,
including one for urban governance
and infrastructure development, involving
a total of Tk10,147.57 crore.
The approval was given in the
Ecnec meeting held at the NEC
conference room at Sher-e-Bangla
Nagar with ECNEC chairperson and
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in
the chair, reports BSS. Of the total
project cost, Tk6,280.64 crore will
come from the National exchequer,
Tk235.59 crore from the funds of
the implementing agencies and the
remaining Tk3,631.34 crore as project
assistance, Planning Minister
AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists
at a post-meeting briefing.
He said the urban governance
and infrastructure development
project (III) is a revised one and it
will be implemented at a cost of
Tk4,046.17 crore.
Implementation of this project,
communication, water supply,
sewerage and sanitation systems in
36 municipalites will be developed
which would help bring change to
the socioeconomic condition of the
poor, he said. •
Banophool Adibashi Greenheart College has celebrated Independence and National Day on March
26, said a press release. Chairperson of the college, Ven Prajnananda Mahathera was present at the
event as chief guest
Chhagalnaiya branch of NCC Bank Ltd has recently been relocated to new premises at Haji Ahasan Ullah
Bhuiyan Tower, Chhagalnaiya in Feni, said a press release. Chairperson of the bank’s risk management
committee, Md Nurun Newaz Salim inaugurated the branch
Report: 7% growth still
achievable in H2
A new research report assessed that
a 7% growth rate is still achievable in
the second half of the current fiscal
year, on the back of moderate credit
growth, higher rates of public and private
sector investment, stabilisation
of remittance earnings, and stronger
exports, due to a stronger dollar.
The report titled “Global Headwinds,
Local Resilience and Rising
Markets: Update on the Macro
Economy and Capital Markets,” was
prepared by Sajid Amit, Director of
Center for Enterprise and Society
(CES) of the University of Liberal
Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).
It suggested that a disciplined
monetary policy management and a
more ambitious fiscal policy implementation
are important to weather
the shocks to the external sector in
the intermediate term.
The report emphasised a
balancing act, which is to encourage
investment without heating up the
economy or the capital markets.
In addition to private sector
investments, mobilising revenue for
public sector investment will be important
in the short run, according
to the report.
The report mentioned that Bangladesh’s
strong external reserves
are a panacea given the external
sector shocks and it will be essential
to maintain the current high levels.
“The recent rally in the capital
markets, while a positive sign of
investor confidence, should not be
allowed to enter a bubble territory. It
is important for brokers to communicate
the same to investors just as it is
for policy-makers to be surgically precise
with regard to monetary policy
management,” the report said.
“The capital markets will be
an important growth driver in the
longer run,” it added. •
NBR intervention
sought to realise
over Tk13cr Biman
outstanding VAT
The Large Taxpayers Unit of Value
Added Tax (LTU-VAT) urged the National
Board of Revenue to intervene in collecting
outstanding VAT of Tk13.82 crore
from the state-owned Sadharan Bima
Corporation (SBC).
The unit Commissioner Md Matiur
Rahman in a letter recently requested the
VAT audit intelligence and investigation
wing in this regard. SBC has yet to pay the
outstanding VAT worth over Tk13.82 crore
against the aviation insurance premium
of Biman Bangladesh Airlines for the fiscal
year 2012-13, according to NBR.
According to the letter, LTU-VAT held
several meetings from February 15, 2016
to November 13, 2016 with the officials of
SBC and BBA on realising outstanding VAT.
Both the state-owned entities
assured NBR of paying the debt, and
as such take necessary steps through
discussion with their higher authorities,
the letter reads. •
Govt to adjust Workers
Welfare Association with
ILO standard
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on
March 28 said the government will
adjust Workers Welfare Association
(WWA) with the ILO convention
to ensure equal rights for workers
employed in the country’s Export
Processing Zones and beyond.
The minister came up with the comment
while addressing journalists after
a meeting with the European Union
(EU) parliamentary delegation lead by
Arne Lietz, a member of the European
Parliament at his office on Tuesday.
“There is a question about trade
union at EPZ, but Bangladesh has
WWA, which is almost similar to trade
unions in terms of enjoying workers
rights,” the minister said.
“But we must adjust with the
International Labour Organisation
(ILO) rules. It has been discussed with
the delegation.”
The delegation will meet the
Ministry of Labour and Employment
and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to
discuss the issue. Bangladesh will give
importance to the issues, which the
EU is concerned with, since benefits
come from them, said Tofail.
There will not be any problem
between EU and Bangladesh, and if
any, they would be resolved through
discussion, the minister said, adding
that all issues would be discussed in
the meeting on Sustainability Compact
to be held in May.
Talking on the EPZ workers rights
issues, Arne Lietz, a member of the
European Parliament said EPZ Law
needs to be rethought. He urged the
authorities concerned to come up
with the standard of UN convention
and ILO standard in terms of workers
rights inside and outside EPZs. •
Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited has recently held its 21st annual general meeting, said a press release. The
bank’s chairperson, Sayem Ahmed was present at the meeting
West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDCL) has recently held its 14th annual general meeting,
said a press release. Chairperson of BPDB and WZPDCL governing board, Engr Khaled Mahmood
presided over the meeting
North South University has recently organised a special public lecture by Nobel Laureate Sir Richard
J Robertson, said a press release. Chairperson of BOT (NSU), Azim Uddin Ahmed was present on the
occasion
Standard Chartered Bank has recently inaugurated its new Chittagong flagship branch at 1 Shahid
Abdul Halim Road in East Nasirabad, said a press release. The bank’s CEO, Abrar A Anwar was present
on the occasion

6
Sunday, April 2, 2017
DT
Stocks
OPINION 7
DT
Sunday, April 2, 2017
W E E K L Y M a r k e t O v e r v i e w SUMMARY Points Change (%) Turnover (BDTmn) Volume (mn) Advanced issues Declined issues Unchanged Issues
DSEX
5,719.6 DSEX 5,719.6 -0.12% 37,255 1,109 84 225 23
(-) 0.12%
CSE ASI 17,738.3 -0.11% 2,766 87 82 188 13
Stocks end in red, breaking three-week streak DSE NEWS
• Tribune Business Desk
IMAMBUTTON: Customs Bond Commissionerate,
Stocks witnessed marginal correction last
week, breaking a three-week gaining streak,
as investors seen on the profit-booking mood.
Market participation saw a sharp decline
during the week with daily average turnover
falling by 18.2% to Tk 931cr as compared to a
week earlier.
The buying spree has lost its momentum
during the week as investors mostly concentrated
at booking profits, said an analyst at
UCB Capital Management Ltd.
Traders suggested the up-coming quarterly
earnings session in April is likely to boost up
trading turnover after last week’s slowdown.
The benchmark indices, DSEX registered
a loss of 0.12% during the week to close at
5,719.6 points while CSE ASI lost 0.11% to end
at 17,738.3 points.
Turnover during the week stood at Tk
5,719cr at Dhaka Stock Exchange, which was
35% lower than the previous week. There
were only four trading session last week compared
to five trading session a week earlier.
According to Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE)
data, Delta Brac Housing secured the highest
weekly gain of 12.7% while Fareast Finance
declined the most by 12.2%.
City Bank topped the turnover table with a
turnover of Tk 193cr during the week.
DS30, the blue-chip index went up by 14.1
points or 0.68% ending at 2,091 points, while
DSE Shariah based index gained 2.2 points or
0.17% to close at 1,303.7 points.
Among the traded issues 84 gained, 225
declined and 23 remained unchanged during
the week. •
Chittagong of the Peoples
Republic of Bangladesh vide its Order dated
21.03.2017 has instructed Imam Button
Industries Ltd. to deposit Tk. 4,43,834.39
(as Evaded customs duty) to the Treasury
as the complaint of customs duty evasion
against the company has been proved and
established. The Company has made clear
violation of Sections 32, 97, 98, 104 of The
Customs Act, 1969. As a result, Financial
Penalty of Tk. 8,00,000.00 has been imposed
on the Company as per Rule 9 of the
Bonded Warehouse Licensing Rules, 2008
and clauses No. 1, 14, 51, 51(A), 62 and 90 of
table of Section 156(1) of The Customs Act,
1969. The Company is instructed to deposit
total Tk. 12,43,834.39 (Tk. 4,43,834.39 as
Evaded customs duty and Tk. 8,00,000.00
as Imposed Penalty) to the Government
Treasury through Treasury chalan within 15
days of issuing this Order.
ALARABANK: The Board of Directors has
Most Traded Price Weekly change MOVEMENT OF DSEX INDEX LAST WEEK
recommended 20% cash dividend for the
City Bank 39 0.00%
5,760
year ended on December 31, 2016. Date
of AGM: 06.05.2017, Time: 10:00 AM.
Venue: Officers Club, 26, Baily Road, Dhaka.
LankaBangla 63.9 2.90%
Record Date: 18.04.2017. The Company
5,740
AB Bank 26.7 0.00%
has also reported Consolidated EPS of Tk.
3.07, Consolidated NAV per share of Tk.
BEXIMCO 35.1 -2.77%
19.72 and Consolidated NOCFPS of Tk. 11.18
5,720
BX Pharma 110.4 2.32%
for the year ended on December 31, 2016
as against Tk. 2.25, Tk. 17.62 and Tk. 6.33
RSRM Steel 91.3 -2.77%
5,700
respectively for the same period of the
IDLC 70 7.69%
previous year.
IFIC Bank 31.6 0.64%
5,680
ASIAPACINS: The Board of Directors has
Islami Bank 41.1 -6.38%
recommended 10% cash dividend for the
year ended on December 31, 2016. Date of
5,660
AGM: 06.07.2017, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue:
ICB 191.3 4.88%
DAY 0 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4
Multipurpose Hall, IDEB Bhaban, 160/A, Kakrail,
Dhaka. Record Date: 09.05.2017. The
Dhaka Tribune has accumulated the stock market related data primarily from Dhaka Stock Exchange website. The basis of information collected was primarily from daily stock quotations and audited/
Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.50,
unaudited reports of publicly listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this
information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to news@dhakatribune.com.
NAV per share of Tk. 17.70 and NOCFPS of
Tk. 2.15 for the year ended on December 31,
2016 as against Tk. 1.52, Tk. 17.20 and Tk.
1.36 respectively for the same period of the
previous year.
Wall Street’s rock-solid quarter ends with a loss
• Reuters
Wall Street fell on Friday, pulled down by Exxon
and JPMorgan Chase as investors wrapped up a
strong quarter and weighed whether corporate
earnings reports will justify the market’s lofty
valuations.
Major indexes have hit multiple record highs
since the election of President Donald Trump on
bets that he would improve economic growth
by cutting taxes and boosting infrastructure
spending. The rally has also benefited from robust
economic data and a pickup in corporate earnings
growth.
For the quarter ending Friday, the S&P 500
gained 5.5%, its strongest quarterly performance
since the last quarter of 2015.
Investors are now looking to the upcoming
quarterly earnings season to justify pricy valuations.
First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies
are expected to rise 10.1%, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S. The index is trading at about 18
times earnings estimates for the next 12 months,
compared to its long-term average of 15.
“Valuations are as stretched as they ever get,”
said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at
Robert W Baird & Co in Nashville. “Certainly that’s
cause for concern if earnings don’t grow the way
they are anticipated to grow.”
Over 40 strategists polled this week on average
expected the S&P 500 to rise another 2% by
the end of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31% to
end at 20,663.22 points, while the S&P 500 lost
0.23% to 2,362.72.
The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.04% to
5,911.74.
So far in 2017, technology has been the
top-performing S&P sector, up 12.2%. The weakest
has been energy, down 7.3%.
Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors fell on Friday,
with the financial index down 0.72%. JPMorgan
Chase fell 1.34% and Wells Fargo & Colost 1.03%.
Also weighing on the S&P 500 and Dow,
Exxon Mobil fell 2.02%.
FMC Corp rallied 13.15% after it agreed to buy
DuPont’s crop protection business and sell its
health and nutrition unit to DuPont. DuPont fell
1.60% Amazon.com rose 1.16% to a record high.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones
on the NYSE by a 1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.18-
to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs
and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded
100 new highs and 17 new lows.
About 6.4 billion shares changed hands in US
exchanges, below the 6.8 billion daily average
over the last 20 sessions and among the lightest
volume days in 2017. •
PRIMEBANK: The Board of Directors has
recommended 16% cash dividend for the
year ended on December 31, 2016. Date
of AGM: 08.05.2017, Time: 11:00 AM.
Venue: Golf Garden, Army Golf Club, Dhaka
Cantonment, Airport Road, Dhaka-1206.
Record Date: 20.04.2017. The Company has
also reported Consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.13
(weighted), Consolidated NAV per share of
Tk. 24.57 and Consolidated NOCFPS of Tk.
4.05 for the year ended on December 31,
2016 as against Tk. 2.11, Tk. 25.75 and Tk.
0.15 respectively for the same period of the
previous year.
MICEMENT: In response to a DSE query
dated March 27, 2017, the Company has
informed that there is no undisclosed price
sensitive information of the Company for
recent unusual price hike. •
Who should we sell the state-owned
banks off to? Who cares?
THE lAST
WORD
• Tim Worstall
The Finance Minister AMA Muhith
has said that the state-owned
banks should be privatised. He’s
entirely correct in this. The next
two questions people ask are: Well,
who should they be sold to and at
what price?
The correct answer to those two
questions is: It doesn’t matter at
all.
Obviously, we don’t want to sell
them to out and out crooks, but
other than that, who owns an asset
like a bank is a matter of no import
at all.
What is much more important
to us all is that we have an efficient
and effective banking system, and
that’s something we’re only going
to get from a private sector system.
We can see the importance of
this from the reactions of governments
in 2008. There was serious
concern that the banking industries
of Wall Street and the City of
London were going to collapse into
piles of smoking rubble.
Anything and everything was
legitimate in making sure that
didn’t happen. No, not because the
world must be run for bankers, but
because having a financial system
is an essential first step in having
a functional economy in the first
place.
It doesn’t take much looking
around the world to see that places
without such a banking system are
poor.
The reason is what it is that
banks and a banking system do
for us -- something called “maturity
transformation.” We deposit
our savings in them -- which is the
same as the bank borrowing from
us -- but we also insist that we
should be able to take our cash out
any time we want to.
But out there in society there
are people who need to be able to
borrow money for a longer period
of time. Someone looking for a
mortgage might need the money
for 30 years, a company investment
might need it for five.
So we need a mechanism by
which those short-term savings
can be changed into those longterm
loans. That’s the transformation,
and the banks do it by that
borrowing short and lending long.
The American economist Brad Delong
insists that this is actually the
definition of banking: If you do this
Sonali Bank is one of the state-owned banks in Bangladesh
Obviously, don’t sell to crooks to the extent that they are a separate group from
bankers. Just auction them off and let the market sort that out because, in the end,
the market is the best system we’ve got
you’re a bank, if you don’t you’re
not.
This is entirely vital for the
economy, for without it we’d only
be able to finance investments for
as long as people wanted to save.
We thus need this done efficiently
and effectively, neither of those
two really being known as something
we’re going to get from the
government bureaucracy.
The finance minister is therefore
correct, we want to get the
banks into the private sector. But
that does raise the question of who
to sell to and for how much.
The answer being, as the Nobel
Laureate Ronald Coase pointed
out: We don’t care very much.
Obviously, as above, don’t sell to
crooks to the extent that they are a
separate group from bankers.
For what Coase pointed out was
that in a free market economy,
the ownership of assets will flow
to those who value them most.
To those who can make the most
profit from them, that is. If you
can only make Tk 10 from owning
something and I can make Tk 100
from owning that same thing, then
I will be willing to pay more for the
thing, no? So, assets end up being
owned by whoever can make the
most profit from them.
Equally, in a free market there
is competition and that means
that the profit cannot be made by
gouging the consumer – that’s you
and me – it must be made by being
more efficient and more effective.
So, our assets will, whoever
we first sell them to, end up being
owned by those who can operate
them most efficiently and most effectively.
Which is what we wanted
for the banking system, efficient
and effective banks.
In theory, this could mean that
we just sell the state-owned banks
for Tk 10 each to whoever wanted
them. Give it a little time for the
market to work and we’d end up
with them being owned by whoever
could run them best, which is
exactly the problem we’ve set ourselves
at the start – how do we get
the banking system for Bangladesh
that we want?
Of course, in reality, we don’t
quite do it that way. We’ve a handful
of these banks so we make sure
that we sell each one to different
people. And we make sure that we
monitor the market to make sure
that we always have that competition,
that no one can own several of
them and thus create a monopoly.
We also don’t set a price for
them. We have an auction and thus
find out what people are willing to
pay for them. And again, in a properly
designed auction, we’ll get the
best price from those who think
they can run them best.
We want and need an efficient
banking system because this is
how to mobilise the savings of the
country into the investment which
will make us all richer. Thus we
also want a private sector banking
system as that’s the way to get the
efficiency.
But who to sell the public sector
Rajib DHAR
banks to and at what price doesn’t
really matter. Just auction them off
and let the market sort that out.
Because, in the end, the market
is the best system we’ve got for
sorting out problems like that. •
Tim Worstall is a Senior Fellow at the
Adam Smith Institute in London.