IPO lottery draw of NRBC Bank held

The initial public offering (IPO) lottery draw of NRBC Bank was held on Wednesday to allocate its 12 crore ordinary shares to successful applicants.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the programme was held on a limited scale at The Westin Dhaka in the city's Gulshan. 

NRBC Chairman SM Parvez Tamal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Md Mukhter Hossain, Company Secretary Md Mozammel Hossain, Chief Financial Officer Harunur Rashid, a number of directors and shareholders of the bank were present on the occasion.

Water Resources Minister Col Zahid Faruk (retd) was present as a special guest.

The lottery draw was conducted using a digital platform under the supervision of a representative team from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). 

The investors and all other related parties joined in on the programme through the website.

The representatives from Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL), Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commission, Dhaka Stock Exchange, Chittagong Stock Exchange and the issue managers AFC Capital and Asian Tiger Capital Partners Investment were also present on the occasion.

"After a decade, a bank is getting listed on the stock market. The overwhelming IPO applications show people's trust in the bank," said SM Parvez Tamal, chairman of NRBC Bank.

The IPO subscription was held between 3-9 February.

General investors have applied for shares worth Tk597.77 crore, which is 8.30 times higher than the allocation.

The primary shares will be offered to the public at a face value of Tk10 per share.

Earlier on 18 November last year, the securities regulator allowed the private sector lender to raise Tk120 crore from the capital market.

The bank, which was established on 20 February 2013, will invest Tk110 crore in government securities and Tk6.05 crore in the secondary market.

As of December 2020, the lender's total classified loans stood at Tk140.1 crore, which included 79% bad loans.

As per the Bangladesh Bank's data, the ratio of gross non-performing loans to the total outstanding loans of the banking sector stood at 7.66%. 

According to an audited report of the year ending on 31 December 2019, the lender's net profit was Tk115.36 crore.

In the January-June period of 2020, the financial institution's net profit was Tk36.21 crore and its earnings per share (EPS) was Tk0.62.

Its net asset value per share without revaluation was Tk13.86. The bank's five-year weighted average EPS was Tk1.55 till 2019.

In the first half of last year, its net interest income was Tk81.38 crore, investment income Tk95.42 crore, and total operating income Tk228.42 crore.