Walton to trade first shares on Sept 23

The local electronics manufacturing giant Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd will start its first trading at both stock exchanges from September 23 under the "N" category.

Investors are waiting for the company's debut on the DSE with high hopes, said a few brokers. The trading code for Walton Hi-Tech is "WALTONHIL" at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The company raised Tk100 crore from the capital market, through an initial public offering (IPO), to expand business and repay bank loans.

The cut-off price per share of the company was set at Tk315 through electronic bidding under the book building method.

Then, Walton sold primary shares with a 20% discount on the cut-off price, considering the interest of general investors amid the pandemic. After that, the cut-off price became Tk252 per share. 

According to the electronic subscription system (ESS) for eligible investors (EIs), some EIs bid as low as Tk12 per share of Walton and others as high as Tk765.

On January 7 this year, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission allowed Walton to fix the cut-off price of its shares through electronic bidding.

Walton showed a 290.6% surge in profit and 89.4% rise in turnover in the 2018-19 financial year – just before its listing on the stock market.

The company's paid-up capital is Tk300 crore.

In the 2018-19 financial year, Walton's total revenue stood at Tk5,177 crore and net profit at Tk1,376 crore. 

Its earnings per share (EPS) were Tk45.87 and weighted average EPS were above Tk28 in the last five years.

In the 2017-18 financial year, Walton's profit and turnover had dropped 52% and 14.4% year-on-year.

In the first half of the financial year 2019-20, the company posted 39% revenue growth, to Tk2,610.55 crore. Of the amount, refrigerator and air conditioner sales contributed 77% and television sales the rest.

The company posted a 57% growth in net profit, to Tk616.28 crore, in the first half of the last financial year.

Founded in 1977, Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd began manufacturing refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and compressors in early 2008.