Eastern Bank chairman to receive 1.64cr gift shares from father
The gifted shares represent a 1% stake in the private commercial bank. Anis Ahmed currently holds a 3.98% personal stake in Eastern Bank.
Anis Ahmed, chairman of Eastern Bank PLC, will receive 1.64 crore shares of the bank as a gift from his father, Ghaziul Haque, a general shareholder of the lender.
The transaction will take place outside the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) trading system by 29 October 2026, according to a corporate disclosure made yesterday (23 September).
Following the announcement, Eastern Bank shares rose 1.75% to close at Tk23.20 on the DSE. The gifted shares represent a 1% stake in the private commercial bank. Anis Ahmed currently holds a 3.98% stake in Eastern Bank.
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The transfer comes at a critical juncture, with sponsors and directors jointly holding 29.44% of the bank's shares as of end-August 2026, below the regulatory minimum of 30%. Their combined holding stood at 31.44% in December 2025. Although no sponsor or director sold shares in the first eight months of this year, their collective stake slipped under the mandatory threshold.
A DSE official said that once the gift transfer is completed, the joint shareholding of sponsors and directors will again cross the 30% regulatory requirement.
To know the reason behind the reduction in sponsors and directors' shareholding, Abdullah Al Mamun, company secretary of the bank, did not answer phone calls or respond to WhatsApp messages.
Anis Ahmed, who is the founder and group CEO of Singapore-headquartered conglomerate MGH Group, was elected as the bank's chairman in July 2026, succeeding Showkat Ali Chowdhury.
MGH Group operates across 26 countries in sectors including supply chain, cargo management, cross-border freight, travel commerce, and commercial banking. Prior to assuming the role of chairman, Ahmed served on the bank's executive committee and chaired its risk management committee.
On the financial front, Eastern Bank reported a 25% year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit, reaching Tk439 crore for the January–June period of 2026. Its consolidated earnings per share rose to Tk2.67 from a restated Tk2.14 in H1 2025. The bank attributed its strong bottom-line growth to higher returns from government securities amid elevated treasury yields, steady growth in non-funded income, and enhanced operational efficiency.
