Robi amends price sensitive info

Mobile network operator Robi Axiata Limited has corrected its price sensitive information 11 days after going public, as news broke out over Robi's information "manipulation."    

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) received the corrections Monday and published the updated information instantly on its website, Md Shafiqul Islam, deputy general manager of the country's premium bourse, told The Business Standard (TBS).

In the meantime, the information was also corrected on the Chittagong Stock Exchange website on Monday, said the market officials.

However, Robi Axiata Limited claimed that it sent the correction on 30 December, 2020. 

The correction was made followed by a report published by TBS titled "General investors concerned over Robi's false information on spectrum renewal" on Sunday.

According to the report, the company's licence for spectrum – an airwave or frequency required for telecommunication – was renewed for ten years on 20 December last year.

However, the company claimed, in its previous disclosure, that it had the approval to use the spectrum for 15 years. The mobile operator, on Monday, fell back from its prior statement and said the renewal was only for ten years.   

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) assigned the spectrum to Robi at $239.772 million, for ten years, while the amount is payable in six installments till 2025.

"If the spectrum was awarded for 15 years, the cost would have been more than that," BTRC sources told TBS wishing anonymity.

On 24 December, 2020, the company's initial public offering (IPO) shares debuted at Tk10 each. In the last 12 days until 4 January, Robi's share price jumped by 259% to Tk35.90.

The company sold its primary shares at a face value of Tk10 each and issued 523,793,334 shares to raise a total of Tk523.79 crore through IPO.

Of the amount, Tk388 crore was taken from external investors, while Tk136 crore was taken from its employees under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).

Some of Tk155 crore, or 40% of the external investors' amount, was collected from institutional investors.