A move by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to award top 30 best-performing firms has taken a backseat as a selection committee has not convened since holding its first meeting 16 months ago.
The bourse had formed a high-profile 15-member jury board, led by ex-finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam, in April last year to set the criteria for awarding the top listed companies.
“We are now busy with the demutualisation process,” DSE president Ahsanual Islam Titu said. “The (award) issue might be taken into account sometime later.”
Titu’s predecessor, Rakibur Rahman, had initiated the award to create more competition among the listed firms and encourage others to perform better.
On April 16, 2012, the DSE at a meeting decided to annually award the top 30 blue-chip companies based on business growth, performance and dividend payout ratio. On April 25, it formed the 15-member jury board.
When asked about the award’s progress, Azizul Islam said the selectors had not met since the first meeting in April last year.
“That’s it,” he told The Dhaka Tribune recently.
In its first meeting, the jury board decided to exclude bank loan or tax defaulters, and companies fined for anti-environment activities from being considered for the award.
The 30 best-performing listed firms would be selected based on several criteria, such as the company's contribution to market capitalisation, paid-up capital, earnings per share, net asset value, reserve, dividend payout and corporate governance.
Presently, 232 equity companies are listed on the Dhaka bourse.
Other members of the jury board include former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammad Farashuddin, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi, former Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Annisul Huq, Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman and professor of Finance at Dhaka University MA Baqi Khalili.
