BSEC has issued an urgent summons to the heads of Robi

The regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has cited the top management of Robi Axiata, a multinational company, for not paying any dividend to investors in the first year of listing.

Senior officials of the company’s board of directors have been asked to report to BSEC’s office in Agargaon at 12:30 pm on Tuesday (February 18).

Earlier in a meeting on Monday afternoon, Robi’s board of directors decided not to pay any dividends to shareholders for the year ended December 30, 2020.

With this decision of the board, a report was published in Jago News with the title ‘Even if the profit increases 8 times, Robi will not pay dividends’. The matter was then brought to the attention of the top BSEC officials and the top officials of the original Robi Board of Directors were summoned.

When contacted, BSEC CEO and spokesperson Mohammad Rezaul Karim told Jago News: “The commission has decided to hold a meeting with Robi’s top management as it has not declared any dividends.” The top management of the company has been summoned to committee at 12:30 pm on Tuesday.

According to a BSEC source, Robi Axiata had promised at the time of the approval of the initial public offering (IPO) that dividends would be paid to shareholders in the first year of listing. But the commission was not satisfied with the Robi board’s decision not to pay dividends. That is why the top managers of the company’s board of directors have been summoned.

Meanwhile, Robi called a press conference at 12 noon on Tuesday despite the fact that he did not pay dividends to shareholders. Robi will speak about the economic situation of the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2020 at the press conference organized by the virtual. However, BSEC has asked to postpone the press conference, the sources said.

When contacted, Robi’s company secretary, Mohammad Shahedul Alam, told Jago News: “It is up to the shareholders not to pay dividends. The board of directors has made this decision as a representative of the shareholders.

Before the approval of the IPO, he promised BSEC that dividends would be paid in the first year of listing. So why didn’t you say this? In response to that question, he said: “We have not made any such statement.”

Will the BSEC postpone Tuesday’s press conference because it has called for an emergency? When asked, Shahedul Alam said, “I can’t say anything about it now.”

Speaking of network expansion and IPO costs, the mobile operator has raised Rs 523.69 crore from ordinary investors by issuing shares in the IPO. The company has been listed on the stock exchange since December 24 after receiving money from investors.

Since the first trading day, the company’s share price has risen considerably. From the first business day of the transaction for 15 consecutive business days, the company’s price increased from Tk 10 to Tk 8 10 paise. In the first 13 business days of the transaction, the company made history on the country’s Stock Exchange by hitting the maximum price increase limit every day.

MAS / MRR