KDS, S Alam groups join Intech board
Representatives of the business giants were elected shareholder directors after buying shares of the listed company
S Alam Group and KDS Group have joined the board of directors of Intech Ltd, a poorly performing IT sector company.
Representatives of the business giants were elected shareholder directors after buying shares of the listed company.
The newly appointed directors are also on the boards of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited, National Bank and Shahjalal Islami Bank – all private-sector lenders.
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They have joined the board as part of complying with the regulatory provision of holding 30% of the company's shares, jointly, by the shareholder directors.
At the company's annual general meeting on 22 March, approval of shareholders will be sought for the 12 elected directors and three independent directors.
With the addition of the new directors, ATM Mahbubul Alam, chairman of Intech Ltd, hopes to overcome the crisis and move forward.
In the financial statement for fiscal 2019-2020, he said, "The newly appointed 12 shareholder directors enabled the company to comply with the regulatory provision."
In 2002, Intech Ltd got listed on the market as an IT sector company. But it entered the fish farming business as the company could not do well in the IT sector.
The company has a fish farming project on 40 acres of land in Tarakanda of Mymensingh.
On 15 July, 2019, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) made it mandatory for sponsors and directors to jointly hold a 30% stake, with each director owning a minimum of 2% shares.
In December 2020, the commission, headed by its Chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat-ul Islam, issued a directive imposing strict conditions on compliance.
As of 7 December, 2020, the company had two directors – a chairman and an independent director – according to Intech Ltd. Collectively, these directors owned only 3.97% shares of the company.
However, in compliance with the terms of the regulatory body, 12 shareholders were selected, excluding the previous directors except for the chairman. The company's board of directors currently holds 30.14% of the total shares.
Khalilur Rahman, chairman of KDS Group, who bought 6.26 lakh shares, has been elected as a shareholder director.
Atiqul Alam Chowdhury, a representative of S Alam Group, bought 6.40 lakh shares.
Al-Arafah Islami Bank directors ANM Yeahea and Ahamedul Hoque, who represent S Alam Group, bought 6.27 lakh and 6.27 lakh shares of Intech Ltd, respectively.
Barrister Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib, a current sponsor shareholder of Modhumoti Bank, has been elected as vice-chairman of Intech Ltd. He bought nearly 6.32 lakh shares of the company.
AIBL Capital Market Service Limited bought 13.13 lakh shares of the company and nominated a director to the restructured board.
Khandaker Shakib Ahmed, a director of Shahjalal Islami Bank, also bought 6.27 lakh shares and Syeda Rashida Yeasmin, wife of Badiur Rahman, former chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, bought 6.26 lakh shares.
Dhaka Cotton Mill bought 6.60 lakh, Shyamol Equity Management 6.27 lakh and Solar Electro Bangladesh 6.45 lakh shares of the company. The companies also nominated directors for the Intech board.
In the fiscal year 2019-2020, the total revenue of the company was Tk9.13 crore, which is 23% less than the previous year.
After paying taxes, the company posted a net profit of Tk46.28 lakh for the current financial year, which is 62% less than the previous year. In the financial year 2018-2019, the net profit was Tk1.23 crore.
In the current fiscal year, the total revenue was Tk4.92 crore and the net profit was Tk55.66 lakh. In the first six months of the financial year, total income decreased by 6% compared to that of the previous year, but profit increased by 49%.
The company's three sources of revenue are Internet services, software and other, as well as the fisheries sector.
Although the company's revenue from fisheries declined, 54% of its total revenue came from this sector. The company earned Tk2.65 crore from fisheries and Tk2.25 crore from its Internet and software business.
S. Alam Group's rejoinder and our reply
S. Alam Group has sent a rejoinder against our 18 March, 2021 Stock page report titled "KDS, S. Alam Group join Intech Board".
The letter undersigned by S. Alam Group Executive Director Subrata Kumar Bhowmick, FCA, reads, S Alam Group has learnt with utmost surprise that appeared on the news.
The news is completely untrue so far it relates to the S. Alam Group and the entities under its control.
S. Alam Group, for and on its own behalf and the entities under its control, do hereby expressly and vehemently disclaim all the information furnished in the said news item and untrue and incorrect and in the context as such, S. Alam Group and the entities under its control shall, in no manner whatsoever, be liable and responsible in connection with the transactions said to have been undertaken by the individuals in the disguise of representative of S. Alam Group and for any consequential effect thereof.
We therefore request you to upload this disclaimer on your news portal forthwith without loss of time for information of the general public so that they are not deceived by circulation of such untrue information.
Our Reply
The news report elaborated the shareholding details of the newly elected shareholder directors as obtained from Intech Limited's Annual Report for 2019-20.
Intech Chairman ATM Mahbubul Alam said in his 2019-20 annual report statement, "The newly appointed 12 shareholder directors hold apex positions in one of the strongest corporate group of the country S. Alam Group, other prominent business groups like KDS Group, Dhaka Cotton Company, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Modhumoti Bank and other business or industrial entities of well repute."
Of the new Intech directors, who are also at some important positions of any business groups, together have been generally expressed as the group in the news report, such as S. Alam Group and KDS Group.
We regret the generalisation error as neither the S. Alam Group itself invested in Intech Ltd, nor do the newly elected shareholder directors represent their other business entities at the listed company's board.
