Kay & Que shares jump 42% in a month amid regulator’s scrutiny 

Kay & Que (Bangladesh), an engineering firm listed on the country's capital market, witnessed a sharp surge in its share price, rising by 42% over the past month – from Tk248.5 to Tk352.1 per share as of 21 August – despite having no material information to justify the rally.

Its share price in three months surged over 84% or Tk161 for each share from Tk190.9 each on 24 May to Tk352.1 each on Thursday.

Within the period of three months, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) served a single query on 27 July regarding the price hike.

In response to the query, Kay & Que said there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for the recent unusual price hike and increase in volume of shares.

In its nine-month financials for the 2024-25 fiscal year up to March, Kay & Que reported a decline in its revenue, which comes from providing services and selling products but surges in profit.

The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, an indicator for a company's share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS) reported significantly is 71.57 based on its latest un-audited financial statement, continuing core operation, according to the DSE.

In the first nine months of FY25, it posted a revenue of Tk16.23 crore, slightly lower than Tk18.85 crore over the same time of the previous fiscal year.

Despite declining in revenue, its profit surged to Tk2.53 crore with an earnings per share (EPS) of Tk3.69, up from Tk1.67 crore and EPS of Tk2.45 in the July-March period of FY24. 

In FY24, it made a profit of Tk45 lakh with EPS of TK0.67, and it had paid a 3% cash and 2% stock dividend for its shareholders. 

Kay & Que was established in 1983 with having annual production capacity of 200 million pieces of carbon rod for the dry cell battery industry, and was listed on the DSE in 1996. 

However, due to forward and backward linkage constraints, decline in demand curve and production difficulties, the management of the company was compelled to shut down the operation of Carbon Rod, Coal Tar and Pesticides manufacturing activities at different times.

Currently, the company is running its business through the operation of CNG filling and re-fuelling station, a boulder business and land lease of its factory premises.

In 2023, Kay & Que merged with MultiSourcing Limited, an IT firm, to bolster profitability, shifting its focus toward a more diversified and sustainable business model.

The free-float shares of the company is 45.29 lakh out of its total 69.93 lakh shares.

Sponsor-directors of the company with Tk6.99 crore paid-up capital hold 35.24% stake, while institutional investors hold 15.29% and the general shareholders hold 49.47% stake in the company.