Mercantile, Southeast banks’ sponsors to offload shares
The sponsors are Md Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury of Mercantile Bank and Rehana Kashem of Southeast Bank
Two sponsors of Mercantile Bank and Southeast Bank have expressed their intentions to sell portions of their holdings in the market, according to separate disclosures published on the stock exchanges' websites today (7 October).
The sponsors are Md Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury of Mercantile Bank and Rehana Kashem of Southeast Bank.
As per the disclosure, Mizanur Rahman intends to sell 1.89 lakh shares at the prevailing market price through the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) by 30 October. He currently holds 61.89 lakh shares in the bank.
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Today, Mercantile Bank's shares closed at Tk9 each on 7 October, valuing the shares to be sold at around Tk17 lakh.
In 2024, the bank reported a profit of Tk64.68 crore, with earnings per share (EPS) of Tk0.58 – a 68% decline from Tk205.82 crore and an EPS of Tk1.86 in 2023. It did not declare any dividend for 2024 but the previous year, it paid a 10% cash dividend to its shareholders.
In the first half of 2025, its EPS dropped by 8% year-on-year to Tk1.82, compared to Tk1.98 in the same period last year.
In its report, the bank said its EPS decreased due to the decrease of profit before provision.
Meanwhile, Southeast Bank sponsor Rehana Kashem has continued offloading her shares. She now plans to sell 10 lakh shares by 30 October through the DSE.
She currently holds 47.27 lakh shares in the bank.
Based on today's closing price of Tk9.20 per share, the sale would be worth approximately Tk92 lakh.
Rehana Kashem earlier sold 15.96 lakh shares on 24 September, reducing her holding from 63.24 lakh shares. Before that, she sold 7 lakh shares in 2023, when she held 70.24 lakh shares.
Southeast Bank's profit fell sharply in 2024 amid higher provisioning against loans and advances. It had reported a consolidated EPS of Tk0.32, which was Tk1.60 in 2023, leading the bank to skip dividends for 2024.
However, in the first half of 2025, the bank's consolidated EPS rose by 10% year-on-year to Tk1. In the April-June quarter alone, its consolidated EPS surged 168% to Tk0.59 from Tk0.22 in the same period of 2024, according to its financials.
