S Alam Cold Rolled Steels' shares surge despite business setbacks, reporting gaps

After a significant decline following the ouster of the Awami League-led government, shares of S Alam Cold Rolled Steels — the only entity solely owned by S Alam Group — have been rising in recent trading sessions.

In the last five trading sessions, from 13 February to 19 February (Wednesday), shares of S Alam Cold Rolled Steels soared 43% to Tk14 each on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

On Wednesday, its shares soared 9.38%, the highest limit for a single-day limit. 

On 9 July last year, the share price stood at Tk26.1 each. However, the share price gradually declined, with the decline accelerating due to increased selling pressure following the fall of the previous government on 5 August.

The engineering firm faced business hardships due to a shortage of raw materials caused by complexities in opening letters of credit. As a result, the share price dropped below the face value of Tk10 each in October.

Additionally, the firm has kept its investors in the dark regarding its nine-month financial statements covering the period from April to December last year. The deadline for publishing the financials for these months has already passed.

Despite these non-compliances and ongoing business challenges, its share price has increased significantly.

Addressing the sharp rise in share price, the company, in response to a Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) query on Wednesday, stated that there is no undisclosed price-sensitive information behind the recent unusual price hike and increased trading volume.

Although fiscal year 2023–24 ended nearly six months ago in June, the company has yet to announce a board of directors' meeting to disclose its annual financial statements.

The last time S Alam Cold Rolled Steels released financial data was for the nine months of the previous fiscal year. 

Additionally, the company has not published its financial statements for the first half of the current fiscal year, which ended in December.