Brain Station 23 backtracks from SME Board listing amid business risks
Brain Station 23 Limited withdrew the Qualified Investor Offer (QIO) on the SME board of the stock exchange a month before the subscription, as its business is not on the right track for public investment.
"The disrupted connectivity nowadays is risking our business and might impact our shareholders and investors," Raisul Kabir, co-founder and CEO of the IT firm, told The Business Standard.
"We believe it will not be the right step to take on the responsibility of managing public equity amid the business uncertainty," he said, adding that following the decision of its board of directors, it has withdrawn the QIO.
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He said more than two-thirds of their customers are foreign ones, and they observe a confidence crisis there.
The subscription for its qualified investors was scheduled to open on 1-5 September.
Earlier, on 9 June, the company secured approval from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to raise Tk5 crore.
The company developed the first in-country mobile app, City Touch, a digital banking platform of the City Bank, in 2017.
LankaBangla Investments Limited is working as the issue manager of the company.
It plans to spend Tk4.70 crore to procure computers and IT equipment to facilitate business expansion. This includes investments in laptops, desktops, MacBook Pros, network items such as switches, application servers, and storage servers, as well as transmission control protocol and WIFI solutions.
According to the company prospectus, the company currently relies on local revenue for one-third of its income, but it aims to reduce this to 24% over the next five years, aligning with its global expansion strategy.
From July to September of the last fiscal year, the company achieved a revenue of Tk33.13 crore, which was Tk27.71 crore in the same period of the previous year. During this quarter, its profit after tax stood at Tk8.21 crore, down from Tk8.39 crore one year ago.
Its earnings per share stood at Tk1.92, and its net asset value per share was Tk19.28 as of September 2023.
Its authorised capital is Tk100 crore and its paid-up capital is Tk42.76 crore, according to the draft prospectus of the company.
