Three Bangladeshi companies have been dropped from a regional index of prominent listed companies on the stock exchanges of five Asian countries.
The companies are AB Bank Ltd., Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd.
The South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE) said Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, recently announced the results of the regular annual review of the Dow Jones SAFE 100 Index.
“The index development is outsourced to Dow Jones and companies that are removed from and added to the index in line with its rules,” SAFE Secretary General Aftab Ahmad Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said stocks are selected separately for Indian companies and other countries, based on their rankings by full market capitalisation.
The index is considered as a tool for the foreign investors guide them taking investment decisions on the stocks.
Seven companies, including the Bangladeshi ones, have been deleted based on the latest review of the index that came into effect after the close of trading on March 15 this year.
Three other companies – Hindalco Industries Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd, Tata Power Co Ltd – from India and one – Rogers and Company Limited – from Mauritius have been excluded and, in their place, seven new companies have been included in the revised and updated index.
The companies added to the Index are: Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Ltd.-Pakistan, Engro Foods Ltd.-Pakistan, Bukit Darah Co. Ltd.-Sri Lanka, Nestle Lanka-Sri Lanka, Asian Paints Ltd. -India, Idea Cellular Ltd.-India, Bharti Infratel Ltd.-India.
The SAFE 100 index was launched in Abu Dhabi, UAE in March 2009 and comprised of 50 companies from India, 23 companies from Pakistan, 13 from Bangladesh, 11 from Sri Lanka and three from Mauritius.
The purpose of this initiative was to show-case the collective investment potential of the selected South Asian markets and to represent the region as one asset class for the international investors.
SAFE is an initiative towards regional and global integration of the domestic capital markets. It’s a SAARC recognised nonprofit association and an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges.
The permanent secretariat of SAFE is located in Islamabad, Pakistan. The secretariat activities are being handled and managed by Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry.