BCSL’s paid-up capital short to off-load shares

In a letter to Bank and Financial Institutions Division on Sunday, the Post and Telecommunications Division disclosed the matter. Besides, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) collected a total of Tk108.50 crore from two local stock markets. BSCCL offloaded its 31m shares in the stock market on 14 June 2012 at a price of Tk35 per share. According to the letter, the paid-up capital of the state-run firm BCSL is below Tk50 crore. But the paid-up capital has to be Tk50 crore or more for off-loading shares in the market. At present, the paid-up capital of BCSL is Tk8.02 crore. Last week, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the Bank Division “has identified the people behind who are against off-loading the shares of the state run firms.” He said a meeting will be held at the Finance Division office soon on preparation of off-loading of the state-run firms’ shares in the market. ICB Capital Management Ltd now looks into financial situation of the BCSL for preparing it to off-load shares in the market. ICB Capital Management is now scrutinising four years balance sheets of the BCSL. In 2015, the BSCCL tried to sell off half of its capacity to an Italian company at a very low price. BSCCL board decided to sell 4m minimum investment unit, which is equivalent to around 90 Gbps, at a price of Tk16 crore for the rest of the lifetime of the cable.