& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Bank Asia IPO registers 55 times over-subscription

Acquisition of foreign banks boosts investors' confidence

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
Belying notions of liquidity crisis in the stock market, Bank Asia Limited's initial public offering (IPO) got an overwhelming response with 55 times over-subscription.
The huge response from the public to the bank reflects the capital market's dependence on banking sector that gives highest return on investment.
Owners and senior officials of the bank attributed the investors' confidence to acquisition of the local operations of the Bank of Nova Scotia of Canada in February 2001.
"Close on the heels of this feat, the bank went for second acquisition taking over Bangladesh operations of Muslim Commercial Bank of Pakistan," M Syeduzzaman, Chairman of Bank Asia Limited said
exchanging views with journalists yesterday.
He said the first ever acquisition of the local operations of foreign banks by a Bangladeshi bank was a landmark event and it ushered in a new chapter in the development of the banking sector in the country.
The Bank Asia chairman said the dividend pay out ratio over the past few years also helped the bank in generating confidence among the public which included 28 per cent dividend last year and 18 per cent in the previous year.
Bank Asia began operation on November 27, 1999 with an objective to become "the most sought after bank of the country", he said. In a very short period the activities of the bank expanded significantly setting new trends.
Others in the business circle say
it is the bank's policymaking board having a set of well-reputed businessmen that have helped in building confidence among the investors.
First Vice-chairman of the bank A Rouf Chowdhury said the bank has a wide variety in its list of loan portfolio which includes term loans, project financing, working capital fund, import finance, syndication loans, industrial financing to support backward linkage industries and infrastructure development.
Asked on reducing interest on term loans, Managing Director of the Bank Syed Anisul Huq said the interest rate of a bank usually depends on the cost of fund and other rationale.
"If our fund cost is five per cent then we need a two per cent spread -- one per cent as administrative cost and one per cent as profit," he
said.
Huq said the deposit of the bank stands at over Tk 900 crore with a network of only 13 branches.
The number of branches will increase to 14 with the inauguration of Uttara Branch on October 23, 2003. Some more branches are in the pipeline. The bank has established foreign correspondent relationship with over 200 foreign banks covering 110 countries.
A number of directors and senior officials of the bank were present at the programme.
Against a Tk 20 crore offer, the bank received applications from public for an amount of over 1,100 crore setting a record in the history of IPO in Bangladesh.