DSE seeks time to decide Coppertech listing

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has sought time to decide on listing disputed company Coppertech Industries Limited, with the accuracy of its initial public offering (IPO) disclosures under investigation.

According to the IPO consent letter issued by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the deadline to decide on listing the company ended at 5pm Sunday.

As per the policy, exchanges have to decide on listing a company within 75 working days from the closure of IPO subscriptions. If exchanges reject the listing proposal, they are obliged to refund the money deposited against primary shares.

The premier bourse of the country on Thursday wrote a letter to the securities regulator also seeking its opinion in this regard.  

“We cannot but seek time as our board could not conclude its decision over listing Coppertech. The company’s disclosures in IPO prospectus is questioned by various stakeholders,” said a DSE senior official.   

He further said it is recently learned that the audit firm concerned – Ahmed and Akhtar Chartered Accountants – is not eligible to sign any publicly listed company’s financial statement.  

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), the self-regulator of local chartered accountants, recently opined that as the auditor has turned into a ‘proprietorship’ from ‘partnership’ firm, it is no more allowed to audit financial statements.

Meanwhile, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the supreme regulator of external auditors, is investigating the financial disclosures by Coppertech and alleged misconduct by the audit firm, said the DSE official.

BSEC Executive Director and spokesperson Md Saifur Rahman said to the Business Standard as the exchange is seeking time, the commission must rethink the deadline for investors’ convenience.

The Board of Directors at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) on May 23 approved the listing of the disputed company.

Khairul Bashar Abu Taher Mohammed, the CEO of issue management company MTB Capital Limited, said if the company is not listed with the DSE, single listing with the port-city burse will also work. “Investors need not to worry at all.”

BSEC awarded its IPO consent letter to Coppertech Industries on February 27. In April, the company received applications and subscriptions from investors to issue primary shares worth Tk 20 crore at a face value of Tk 10 each share.

The company started its commercial operations in mid-2014 to manufacture and sell copper bar, copper rod, copper strip, copper wire, copper pipe and copper tubes – which are mainly used in air coolers, refrigerators, transformers, electric wires, plumbing works, building construction works and power plants.

In the accounting year ending on June 30 of 2018 with revenue over half a billion Taka, the company disclosed a profit of Tk 41 million after tax. But a lot of elements from its financial statement were alleged to be fabricated.