Loss-making Shyampur Sugar surges 38% in 12 sessions – DSE clueless
During this quarter, its per-share loss stood at Tk10.97, up from Tk10.39 a year ago
Shares of loss-making Shyampur Sugar Mills have surged by 38% within just 12 trading days, despite no publicly disclosed information justifying the increase.
The shares jumped from Tk100.20 on 9 March to Tk138.40 on 25 March on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), closing at Tk138.40 on Thursday.
In response to this sharp rise, the DSE recently sent a query to the state-run company regarding the unusual price hike. It replied that there is no undisclosed price-sensitive information behind the surge.
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Despite severe operational difficulties, Shyampur Sugar Mills topped the DSE's weekly gainers' list. The sudden spike has surprised market participants, as the company has struggled to sustain its business.
According to the unaudited financial statement for the October-December quarter of 2024, the company reported a total loss of Tk5.49 crore, compared to Tk5.20 crore in the same period of the previous year.
During this quarter, its per-share loss stood at Tk10.97, up from Tk10.39 a year ago. For the July-December period, the company recorded a total loss of Tk11.67 crore, higher than the Tk10.53 crore loss in the same period of the previous year.
Additionally, its per-share loss stood at Tk23.34, and its net asset value per share was a negative Tk1,283.25 as of December 2024.
Despite the company's continuous losses, its share price has risen sharply without any apparent justification.
In December 2023, the securities regulator directed the DSE to investigate the trading activity related to the unusual price hike of Shyampur Sugar Mills' shares.
Shyampur Sugar Mills was established between 1965 and 1967 in Shyampur, Rangpur, at a cost of Tk6.51 crore. The company has 46,700 acres of sugarcane-cultivable land.
The mill has an installed sugarcane crushing capacity of 1,016 tonnes per day, with an annual sugar production capacity of 10,160 tonnes. Since Bangladesh's independence, the company has produced an average of 7,140 tonnes of sugar per year, with a sugar recovery rate of 7.63%. Its highest sugar production was 12,825 tonnes in the 1981-82 fiscal year.
In the fiscal 2019-20, it produced 3,002 tonnes of sugar from 44,524 tonnes of sugarcane.
Listed on the stock exchange in 1990, Shyampur Sugar Mills has been unable to pay dividends in recent years due to continuous losses.
As of February 2025, the company's shareholding structure is as follows: Government: 51%, Institutional investors: 2.85%, and General investors: 46.15%.
