Thirteen listed companies came under the scanners of the premier bourse, as they failed to 'declare' any dividend in the last five years in violation of the listing regulations.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) is likely to take final decision on some of these companies in January on the basis of its investigation reports.
Of the 13 companies, only three disbursed dividends in 2012 for the last time, and another one paid its last dividend in 2010.
The premier bourse said it is now reviewing the performance of the companies as per the listing regulations.
As per the regulations, a company can be de-listed for not declaring dividends for five years since its declaration of the last dividend.
The companies which failed to declare dividends in the last five years are Jute Spinners, Meghna Condensed Milk Industries, Meghna Pet Industries, ICB Islamic Bank, Dulamia Cotton Spinning Mills, Samata Leather Complex, Shyampur Sugar Mills, Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills, Imam Button Industries, Savar Refractories, Beximco Synthetics, Shinepukur Ceramics and Sonargaon Textiles.
The companies presently are in the 'Z' category and majority of them have posted losses for the year ending on June 30, 2018.
The Jute Spinners incurred a loss of Tk 60.53 per share, Meghna Condensed Milk Tk 7.89 per share, Meghna Pet Industries Tk 0.39, Dulamia Cotton Tk 4.04, Shyampur Sugar Mills Tk 93.82, Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills Tk 80.82, Imam Button Tk 0.40, Savar Refractories Tk 0.94, Beximco Synthetics Tk 3.12, and Sonargaon Textiles Tk 0.93 per share for the year ending on June 30, 2018.
Some of these companies also reported losses in previous years.
Samata Leather Complex and Shinepukur Ceramics, however, have reported an EPS (earnings per share) of Tk 0.02 and Tk 0.42 respectively for the year ending on June 30, 2018.
KAM Majedur Rahman, managing director of the DSE, said they have conducted an investigation into the performances of these 13 companies.
"Now the companies will be called for the hearing. The final decision will be taken in January next," he said.
Asked about the possible action, the DSE managing director said any kind of action can be taken as per the existing rules.
"The DSE may impose penalty or de-list any company. The action will depend on individual performance of the companies," he told the FE.
Asked about the findings of the probe, the DSE official said performances of a few companies are satisfactory, but the performances of most others are not good.
The DSE is reviewing the performance of the companies in line with the section 51 (1) (5) of the DSE Listing Regulations, 2015.
As per this section of the regulations, any listed securities may be de-listed if the issuer has failed to declare dividend (cash/stock) for a period of five years from the date of declaration of last dividend or the date of listing with the Exchange.
Of the 13 companies, only four disbursed stock dividend ranging 5.0 per cent to 15 per cent five years ago.
Beximco Synthetics disbursed 10 per cent stock dividend, Shinepukur Ceramics 15 per cent stock dividend and Sonargaon Textiles 5.0 per cent stock dividend in 2012.
Imam Button Industries disbursed 10 per cent stock dividend in 2010.
No record of declaration of any dividend in the previous years by the remaining nine companies was found on the website of the DSE.
