The stock market regulator has appointed two independent directors to Agni Systems in compliance with mandatory shareholding rules as the company's sponsor-directors failed to hold minimum 30 per cent shares.
The newly appointed independent directors are Prof. Mohammad Ridhwanul Haq, IBA, University of Dhaka and Dr. Mansura Akter, Assistant Professor, Department of International Business, University of Dhaka.
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has nominated the two 'distinguished individuals/persons' as independent directors of the company as per the latest directive on mandatory shareholding by the sponsor-directors, the company said in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Monday.
The company will form a committee of independent directors including two additional independent directors who will oversee the compliance issue.
If the sponsors or directors of any listed company failed to jointly hold minimum 30 per cent shares of the paid-up capital of a company at all the time, the company's board of directors will appoint two additional independent directors subject to prior approval of the BSEC, according to a recent directive.
The stock market regulator has also started taking regulatory action against listed firms that have failed to comply with its directive that sponsors and directors must hold an at least 30 per cent share of their companies' paid-up capital at all times.
The sponsor-directors of Agni Systems holds only 9.39 per cent shares in the company for the last few years, the DSE data showed.
The institutional investors own 41.77 per cent stake in the Agni Systems while the general public own 48.84 per cent stake as of March 31, 2021.
Each, share of the company, which was listed on the DSE in 2003, closed at Tk 17.40 on Monday, gaining 1.75 per cent over the previous day. Its shares traded between Tk 13.40 and Tk 24.10 in the last one year.
The company's earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 0.26 for October-December 2020 as against Tk 0.27 for October-December 2019.
In six months for July-December 2020, its EPS was Tk 0.48 as against Tk 0.44 for July-December 2019.
The net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) was Tk 0.32 for July-December 2020 as against Tk 0.52 for July-December 2019.
The net asset value (NAV) per share was Tk 14.53 as on December 31, 2020 and Tk 14.05 as on June 30, 2020.
The IT company disbursed only 2.0 per cent cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2020.
The company's paid-up capital is Tk 725.56 million and authorised capital is Tk 1.0 billion, while the total number of securities is 72.55 million.
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