Bidisha International to offload 15 lakh more shares of RD Food

Bidisha International Limited, a corporate director of Rangpur Dairy and Food Products Limited (RD Food), has announced plans to sell an additional 15 lakh shares at the prevailing market price through the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) within the next 30 working days.

The disclosure was filed with the DSE today (7 January), indicating that the shares will be sold in the public market. Following the disclosure, its share price rose by 1.92% to reach at Tk21.20.

This follows an earlier announcement on 24 December, when Bidisha International said it would offload the same number of shares from its larger holding of 51.53 lakh shares.

That earlier sale, however, has yet to be completed, according to market disclosures. Following partial adjustments, the corporate director currently holds 36.53 lakh shares of RD Food.

The planned divestment coincides with a series of concerns raised by the company's external auditor over financial reporting practices and liquidity pressures.

In a qualified opinion, Faruk Ahmed, partner at Khan Wahab Shafique Rahman & Co, Chartered Accountants, highlighted discrepancies in deferred tax calculations.

The auditor said that RD Food applied an outdated statutory tax rate of 15% instead of the applicable 22.5% for the year, leading to an under-provision of deferred tax of approximately Tk2.63 crore. This miscalculation directly affected the company's reported earnings per share (EPS).

According to the audited financial statements, RD Food posted a net profit of Tk4.61 crore for the year, translating into an earnings per share of Tk0.61. This represented a sharp decline of roughly 40% compared to the previous year's profit of Tk7.68 crore and EPS of Tk1.01.

The company attributed the fall in earnings to rising import costs, persistent inflationary pressures and higher bank borrowing rates.

The auditor also flagged unresolved issues involving unclaimed dividends and IPO subscription refunds. An amount of Tk57.37 lakh in IPO subscription funds remained unadjusted under non-claimed general share applications, a situation the auditor said overstated the company's capital position.

In addition, discrepancies were identified in the handling of unclaimed dividends—amounts approved for distribution but not collected by shareholders within the prescribed timeframe.

Under regulatory requirements, unclaimed dividends outstanding for more than three years must be transferred to the Capital Market Stabilisation Fund (CMSF).

The auditor reported that RD Food had unclaimed dividends amounting to Tk18.89 crore. However, only Tk1.94 lakh was found in the designated bank account. While Tk4.04 lakh had been transferred to the CMSF, the remaining balance that should have been available was missing and had instead been used for operational purposes.