Sunday World Business News

Investors shaky as stock prices continue sliding Staff Correspondent
Dhaka stocks closed downbeat last week that ended Thursday with limited participation of investors who remained shaky amid the recent downtrend in the market, said market operators. Market lost steams also in previous three weeks as investors remained unnerved due to the SEC decision barring closed-end mutual funds from increasing their sizes through issuing bonus or right shares and the DSE’s market cooling measures. A merchant bank official said stocks continued losing in prices as investors remained unnerved because of the regulatory moves. The general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 37.15 points or 1.23 per cent last week to close at 2981.99 on Thursday while all its share price index shed 18.65 points or 0.72 per cent to finish at 2569.35. The bourse’s blue chips index, DSE20, however, gained 29.15 points or 1.14 per cent to close at 2593.56. A group of retail investors on Sunday formed a human chain in front of the DSE building in protest against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision baring closed-end mutual funds to increase their sizes. Earlier on June 29, a group of retail investors staged a half-an-hour demonstration in front of the DSE building, protesting at the SEC decision. On June 26, the SEC at a meeting decided in principle to amend its mutual fund rules to bar closed-end mutual funds from increasing their size. Last week, technical glitches due to virus attacks in the servers and computers of majority of the brokerage firms of the DSE hampered share trading at the bourse hugely on Wednesday. Trading at the DSE remained active for around one hour on the day. The daily average turnover at DSE was down by 5.26 per cent to Tk 268 crore last week from the previous week’s Tk 283 crore. The week’s total turnover was Tk 1,341 crore. Of the total 244 issues traded at the DSE last week, 110 advanced, 124 declined and 10 remained unchanged. Forty-three issues recorded no transaction in the period. Stock prices of the mutual funds continued to dip during the week due to the regulator’s proposal on restricting the issuance of right on bonus shares. Of the top ten losers of the week, seven were from mutual funds. Grameen Mutual Fund One was the worst loser with 28.16 per cent fall in its share price. ACI Limited topped the turnover leaders with total transaction of Tk 93.39 crore which was 6.96 per cent of the total market turnover. Beximco Pharmaceuticals, LankaBangla Finance, Keya Cosmetics, Square Pharmaceuticals, Beximco, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, Apex Adelchi Footwear, Fareast Islami Life Insurance and Prime Finance were the other turnover leaders of the week. Janata Insurance, a ‘Z’ issue, was the biggest gainer with 40.92 per cent rise in its share price. Last week, the insurance company announced 10 per cent stock dividend for the year 2007, DSE sources said. Of the total turnover of the last week, ‘A’ category issues accounted for 87.57 per cent while ‘B’ category issues shared 0.89 per cent, ‘N’ category 5.44 per cent and ‘Z’ category 6.09 per cent.
Food exporters need institutional facilities to reach bulk importers Kazi Azizul Islam
Although Bangladesh’s exports of processed foods are growing encouragingly, proceeds remain meagre as food industry has yet to reach bulk importers and retailers who dominate multibillion dollars food business in advanced markets. Exporters said that sales of Bangladeshi processed foods are still limited in the Bangladeshi communities in the respective countries and exporters have yet to reach bulk importers especially the chain shops. Industry people said lack of research and product development facilities, institutions for accrediting traceability, tests and standards of products makes bulk importers reluctant to import food items from Bangladesh. ‘Especially the chain retailers of foods in the advanced markets are very much sensitive regarding to the tests and accreditations of products’ quality. Absence of institutional facilities deters exporters from reaping such bulk orders,’ said Anayet Rashid, director of Lalmai Food Products. Most foreign retailers seek detailed traceability of raw materials used in products, said the chief executive of Lamai, which owns Arku, a major brand for packed spices, specialised curry powders and other processed foods. ‘As traceability is a major concern for foreign buyers, so exporters need organised facilities to satisfy such importers especially their enquiries regarding to entire supply and production process of the products,’ he pointed out. With a growth of 73 per cent over the corresponding period, Bangladeshi exporters shipped processed foods worth about $35 million during the 11 months of the just-ended fiscal 2007-2008. Though Bangladesh started exporting processed foods at least a decade back, her earnings remain very scanty in terms of multibillion dollars’ global market. Bangladesh lags far behind the regional players including Thailand, India and Pakistan. A senior marketing executive of Agricultural Marketing Company agreed that absence of acceptable accreditations deter local exporters from doing business with bulk importers. Pran that pioneered commercial exports of processed foods from Bangladesh now shares around half of the country’s entire export earnings from the sector. ‘Image crisis especially a misconception among upmarket buyers regarding to quality of Bangladeshi products also prevent the exporters from reaching retailers abroad,’ the official said. Industry people said the government should establish an institution for doing test and accrediting the quality of exportable food products from Bangladesh. They said that the industries needed such institutions for conducting research and developing products according to the tests and requirements of foreign market consumers. According to industry sources, including Square Consumer Products, BD Foods, at least 20 agro-processing companies have significant export volumes and they are seriously trying to explore the export markets.