Robi at last made its debut at the bourses, with its stock hitting the circuit breaker within minutes of the start of trade.
Shares of the country’s second-largest mobile operator, whose issue price is Tk 10, hit Tk 15 at 10:12 am, according to data on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
With the view to preventing shares soaring astronomically on their debut, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a circuit breaker from last year.
On its maiden trading session, the stock’s price cannot increase by more than 50 per cent on the issue price. In the following trading session, the stock’s price cannot gain more than 50 per cent of the first day’s closing price or on the adjusted open price.
Circuit breaker regulation will be as usual from the third trading session.
Transactions crossed Tk 800 crore by noon with the introduction of Robi shares, according to BSEC Chairman Shibli Rubayet ul Islam.
Malaysian High Commissioner Haznah Md Hashim, Robi CEO & MD Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, and Indian High Commissioner Vikram K Doraiswami at the bell-ringing and first trade ceremony of Robi at the Dhaka Stock Exchange’s office in capital’s Nikunja
From today onwards, Robi’s future will be interlinked with its local investors as well as the foreign ones, said Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, chief executive officer and managing director of Robi.
Robi Axiata is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and Bharti Airtel of India. Axiata holds 68.7 per cent controlling stake in the entity, and Bharti holds the remaining 31.3 per cent share in the company.
It has offloaded 52.4 crore shares, which is about 10 per cent of its stakes, at Tk 10 each to raise Tk 523.8 crore, 98.5 per cent of which would be used for network expansion, especially 4G.
“Please note that we are chasing a long-term digital vision that will come true over the years as the country evolves into a full-fledged digital economy. We do not doubt that the Digital Bangladesh vision offers the visionary pathway to make it happen,” he added.
Robi’s debut capped months of excitement in the bourse surrounding its mammoth initial public offering.
CSE MD Mamun-Ur-Rashid, Robi MD & CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, and Robi Chief Corporate & Regulatory Officer Shahed Alam at the bell ringing and first trade ceremony of Robi at the Dhaka office of CSE
Soon after the stock market regulator gave the nod to the listing on September 23, retail investors flocked to open beneficiary owner’s (BO) accounts, which is a must to buy shares, according to data from the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL).
Subsequently, there was tremendous frenzy among retail and institutional investors when its IPO subscription began on November 17.
The window closed on November 23, with applications exceeding the amount that Robi intends to raise by 5.74 times.
This suggests the pressure has amped up on the country’s second-largest mobile operator to improve its financial performance to satisfy the heightened shareholder expectations.
Last month, Robi posted a 77.2 per cent slump in profit between July and September from a year earlier. Its main competitor Grameenphone posted a 22.4 per cent profit growth for the quarter.
Robi’s third-quarter’s takings take its profit in the first nine months of 2020 to Tk 116.1 crore, up 1.9 per cent year-on-year.
As is practice, Robi’s shares will be trading under the N category.
The N-category companies are those that shall be transferred to other categories based on their first dividend declaration and respective compliance after listing of their shares.