The New Nation - Internet Edition

DSE witnesses fall after 9 days of consecutive gains

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed fall yesterday amid profit taking from gains the market recorded for nine 9 consecutive days. Brokers said 171 issues out of the total 229 traded on the day, incurred loss amid sales pressure bringing down the DSE indices. Only 44 issues gained and 14 remained unchanged. The market continued to register a steady growth since August 20 till Tuesday after a bearish trend witnessed until August 19 when the benchmark index fell as low as 2,571 points.The DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index, fell 34 points or over 1.0 percent to close at 2,797 points on Wednesday from 2,831 points at close on Tuesday while the All Shares Price Index (DSI) shed 25 points or 1.0 percent to close at 2,390 points.

The DSE-20 index for the selective shares witnessed fall for the second consecutive day on Wednesday with 15 points or 0.64 percent decline to close at 2,419 points.

The total turnover dropped slightly to Tk 2.69 billion on Wednesday from Tk 2.71 billion on Tuesday while the market capitalization dropped to Tk 986.18 billion on the day from Tk 990.60 billion on the day before.

Titas Gas, BEXIMCO, GRAMEENS2, ACI, Beximco Pharma, Lankabangla Finance, ICB 2nd NRB, Pragati Insurance, Square Pharma and Uttara Bank were the day's turnover leaders in terms of value.

The day's volume leaders were GRAMEENS2, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund, BEXIMCO, Titas Gas, Beximco Pharma, Keya Cosmetics, BD Com, Grameen 1, ICB 2nd NRB and Lankabangla Finance.

Top gainers of the day were BEXIMCO, ICB Islamic Bank, AMCL, Beximco Fisheries, Apex Foods, Shine Pukur, Chittagong Vegetables, Beximco Textiles, Ran Foundry and Reckitt Benckiser.

Top losers were Reliance Insurance, ICB, Progressive Life Insurance, Peoples Insurance, Rupali Insurance, Agni Systems Limited, Merchantile Insurance, Grameen1, Eastland Insurance and Bangladesh Thai Aluminum.

Banglalink focusing heavilyon improving service quality: Continues to invest heavily in network

BUSINESS REPORT

Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), the holding company of Banglalink has recently announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2008.

Network quality improvement continues to be one of the highest priorities for Banglalink. In this regard, Banglalink invested over Tk 783 crore during the quarter, bringing the total infrastructure investment during 2008 YTD to over Tk 1,424 crore.

Commenting on the occasion, the CEO of Banglalink, Mr. Rashid Khan said, "Keeping in mind the continuous commitment to our customers, we have the most aggressive network roll-out plan of any operator in Bangladesh, significantly higher than the other players in the market."

Along with network quality improvement, Banglalink is also committed to providing the best possible customer care to its consumers. In this regard, an intensive campaign was launched during Q2 focusing on all customer touch points. Banglalink has established a state of the art call centre that serves customers 24/7 where service is provided by highly trained agents under the "one call does it all" slogan. Banglalink also has the largest network of over 700 customer service points spread all over the country along with a passionate and vigilant team to provide quality and prompt service.

Banglalink's revenue during first half of 2008 exceeded BDT 915 crore which is 70% higher compared to last year. Revenue for Q2 is almost Tk 440 crore, or 7 percent less than Q1 primarily because of price reductions in the market during the second quarter.

Banglalink maintained its high growth momentum during Q2 2008, and ended the quarter (as of June 2008) with almost 95 lakh subscribers, representing an impressive 83 percent increase in its subscriber base compared to June 2007, and recently achieved the one crore subscriber mark. Banglalink added over 11 lakh subscribers during Q2, thereby bringing the total additions for the first half of 2008 to almost 24 lakh, which is a 26 percent increase compared to same period last year. Banglalink extended its lead as the second largest player in the market with a 21.6 percent market share-an increase of almost 4 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in six high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 46 crore. Orascom Telecom Opel'2tes GSM networks in Algeria ("OTA"), Pakistan ("Mobilink"), Egypt ("Mobinil"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana"), Bangladesh ("Banglalink"), and Zimbabwe ("Telecel Zimbabwe"). Orascom Telecom had over 70 crore 7 lac subscribers as of June 2008.

Malek Spinning Mills to get Tk 352cr loan from EBL and other financial institutions

BUSINESS REPORT

Eastern Bank Limited along with seven other leading financial institutions of the country have signed a Paripassu Security Sharing Agreement with Malek Spinning Mills Limited in Dhaka recently for an amount of Taka 352 crore. Of the total amount of Taka 63 crore is term loan, Taka 23 crore is funded working capital and Taka 266 crore is non-funded working capital. The other financial institutions are Dhaka Bank Limited, HSBC, One Bank Limited, Trust Bank Limited, Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, IPDC Limited and CitiBank N.A.

The signing ceremony was attended among others by A Matin Chowdhury, Managing Director of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd, Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director and CEO of Eastern Bank Limited, Shahed Noman, Managing Director of Dhaka Bank Ltd, Farman R Chowdhury, Managing Director of One Bank Ltd, Muhammad Ali, Managing Director of Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd, Masih-Ul Huq Chowdhury, Managing Director of IPDC Ltd, Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director of Trust Bank Ltd, Syed Rafiqul Haque, Executive Vice President and Area Head, Corporate Banking of EBL, Abrar A Anwar, Director and Head of Corporate Banking, CITI Bank NA, and Mahbub-Ur-Rahman, Head of Corporate Banking, HSBC.

Speaking on the occasion, Managing Director of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd A Matin Chowdhury thanked the banks for their continued support and also announced that to take advantage of the expanding demand for their quality product they are going for further expansion for which they will go to the capital market within this year.

Cotton USA Licensee Malek Spinning Mills Ltd started operation in 1990 with 6,000 spindles currently having 63,000 spindles. Last year the mill achieved a total production of 12.58 million kgs of yarn and a turnover of Tk 240 crore.

Recently they have promoted another mill called Salek Textile Limited which will produce 42 tonnes of open end yarn per day.

Sigve Brekke appointed as new chairman of Grameenphone

BUSINESS REPORT

Grameenphone Ltd has announced the appointment of Sigve Brekke as its new Chairman of the Board of Directors with immediate effect.

"As a board member of Grameenphone earlier in 2000, I have since keenly followed the growth of the company and the market over the years. The mobile phone market in Bangladesh is an exciting market with considerable potential for further growth. And I look forward to actively participating in the next phase of Grameenphone's growth," said Sigve Brekke following his appointment.

Speaking on the occasion, Grameenphone CEO Anders Jensen said, "It is our pleasure to welcome Sigve Brekke on board as our Chairman and we look forward to benefiting from his strategic competence and operational knowledge. I would also like to thank Arve Johansen for his significant contributions towards the growth of Grameenphone over the years."

Sigve Brekke has many years of experience in international operations. He was recently appointed as Head of Region Asia in the Telenor Group. Prior to that, Brekke was the Director and CEO of Total Access Communication PLC (DTAC), a role he held since 2002.

Brekke joined Telenor in 1999 as Managing Director of Telenor Asia Pte Ltd. In his career, Brekke has served as the Deputy Minister (State Secretary) of Defence in Norway in 1993, held positions at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and had an associate position at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in the USA. Under his supervision, DTAC became a major mobile operator in Thailand with 17.4 million customers (Q2 '08).

Arve Johansen has been the Chairman of the Grameenphone Board of Directors since 2006. Johansen played an instrumental role in deciding on Telenor's investment in Grameenphone in 1996.

From the expiration of his appointed assignment period as Head of Region Asia in the Telenor Group on September 1, Arve Johansen serves as a special advisor to the President and CEO until he retires in June 2009.

"Being involved in the formation of Grameenphone, the first Telenor investment in Asia, it has been extremely rewarding for me to witness the rapid growth of the company over the years," said Johansen. "The company has a very bright future and I wish the very best to the excellent Grameenphone team."

Libya very keen to raise import from Bangladesh

STAFF REPORTER

Despite the long distance between the two friendly Muslim countries, Libya is very much interested to import goods from Bangladesh.

"Libya is ready to import more and more goods from Bangladesh although the distance between the two countries is very long," said Ahmed A.H. Elimam, Ambassador of Libya to Bangladesh, while talking to The New Nation at a reception held at Westin Dhaka Hotel on September 1 last.

"Though Bangladesh and Libya are existed in two separate continents, the existing bilateral relations between the two countries are very excellent. I think these relations can bridge any geographical distance," he said.

The reception was hosted by the Ambassador on the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the Great Al-Fateh Revolution of Libya. It was attended by politicians, senior government officials, diplomats, academics, businessmen and journalists.

However, sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the bilateral trade and investment potentials between Bangladesh and Libya are yet to be explored further. The annual bilateral trade volume worth US$4.5 million now exists between Bangladesh and Libya.

There are ample opportunities in the field of trade and investment between the two countries which still remain unexplored. Libyan business sector can take competitive advantage of doing trading with Bangladesh, especially in the fields of textile, agro-processing, leather products, pharmaceuticals, IT and ceramics.

It is learnt that Bangladesh and Libya are going to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on manpower cooperation between the two countries soon. The MoU is going to be signed in the context of recent withdrawal of a ban by the Libyan government on import of manpower from Bangladesh.

Addressing the reception, Ambassador Elimam said on September 1, 1969 and after 4000 days of some extraordinary tactics and planning, young officers directed by a man of consequences and an original style of thought came in with a bloodless coup as Brother Qhadafi's first declaration says, "There will be no more oppressed people, no more disappointed or deprived people, neither masters nor slaves but free brothers in a society flying the flag of equality…."

This revolution subsequently led to the creation of Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Since then Muammar Qhadafi was and still is operating quietly with his wisdom and has devoted his life to the salvation from all faces of inhumanity on behalf of all good principles. His being behind the African Union is another dimension to the great Libyan history.

The Ambassador mentioned that his country had celebrated the 24th anniversary of a 4,000-km long man-made river project only a few days ago. This river was a success against ignorance and backwardness.

Ambassador Elimam also said Libyans under the guidance of Colonel Muammar Qhadafi have initiated serious scientific studies. "This strategy aims at achieving the self-sufficiency, increasing the level of education and encouraging the areas of research…."

He said the Great Jamahiriya believes that the difficult task of achieving peace and stability of all nations is a collective responsibility of all nations as a whole. "Libyans say the real relationship is between nations and not governments. This relationship should be based on fairness, equality and mutual respect."

DBH recommends 30pc stock dividend

BUSINESS REPORT

Delta Brac Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DBH) has recently recommended 30 percent stock dividend (i.e. three bonus shares for every 10 shares held) for the year 2007-2008.

Faruq A Choudhury, Chairman, DBH presided over the meeting of Board of Directors of Delta Brac Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DBH). QM Shariful Ala, Managing Director of DBH and other Directors were also present at the meeting.

1st branch of IIDFC opens in Chittagong

BUSINESS REPORT

The first branch of the Industrial & Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC) Ltd started its operation at Agrabad in Chittagong recently.

The branch was inaugurated by Mr. Feroz Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce.

The inaugural session was attended, among others, by Kazi Md. Shafiqur Rahman, Managing Director, Mutual Trust Bank Ltd and Director, IIDFC, Arif Quadri, Senior Executive Vice President, One Bank Ltd and Director, IIDFC, officials of IIDFC, representatives of banks and financial institutions and the business community of Chittagong.

In his speech the chief guest, Feroz Ahmed lauded the contributions made by IIDFC in the field of industry and infrastructure through its products like lease finance, direct lending, structured finance, SME and home loan and hoped that the new branch in Chittagong will contribute further to the economic development of the region.

The Chairman of IIDFC, Md. Matiul Islam, gave a brief overview on IIDFC mentioning that the company was promoted by 10 banks and 4 financial institutions.

"As a result, the IIDFC succeeded in building strong fundamentals within a period of only 7 years," the Chairman added.

In his inaugural speech, the Managing Director, termed the opening of the first branch in Chittagong a milestone in the history of IIDFC and expressed his hope that this initiative on the part of IIDFC will significantly contribute to the growth of trade and commerce of the region.

Khaled Shams appointed as Country Director of Nokia: Siemens Networks Bangladesh

Khaled will lead the Bangladesh Country Management team and be the primary spokesperson for Nokia Siemens Networks He will report to Ricky Corker, Head of Asia North sub region, Nokia Siemens Networks

Khaled Shams has been appointed as Country Director, Nokia Siemens Networks Bangladesh, from September 1, 2008.

Khaled has more than 16 years of experiences in the telecom industry. He was part of the Siemens communications group for more than 14 years, and was the Head of Communications division at Siemens Bangladesh prior to NSN's formation.

Khaled was instrumental to establishing Siemens Communications business in Bangladesh. He was also a Director at Bangladesh Cable Shilpa Sangstha (a former JV of Siemens Communications and Bangladesh government) and Telephone Shilpa Sangstha Limited (a former JV of Nokia Siemens Networks and Bangladesh government).

Khaled is an electrical engineer by training, with a Masters in Business Administration from Dhaka University. He is married with two children. In his leisure time, he likes to read and travel.

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd opens 47th branch

Al-Arafah IsIami Bank Ltd opened its 47th branch at Salamat Ullah Bhaban, Kachari Road, Hathajari, Chittagong on August 31 last.

Vice Chairman, Board of Directors Alhajj Mir Ahmed Sowdagar presided over the ceremony and inaugurated the branch.

Executive Director of Al-JamiatuI Islamia, Patia, Chittagong, Moulana Abdul Halim Bukhari, Muhaddis of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Muinul Islam, Hathajari, Moulana Muhammad Iahiya and Chairman of Islamic Studies Department, Chittagong University Prof Dr AFM Aminul Haque were present as special guests.

Managing Director of the bank MA Samad Sheikh delivered the welcome speech. Former member of Board of Directors Alhajj Badsha Miah was present on the occasion.

A large number of local people, businessmen, clients and well-wishers were present on the occasion. Branch Manager Mohammad Nazrul Islam thanked the audience.

Major steps taken to enhance food security in South Asia

A regional Agriculture Mitigation and Adaptation Framework for Climate Change was adopted on 30 August at the closing of a five-day international symposium organized by the World Meteorological Organization, jointly with other UN partners, and hosted by Bangladesh. The Framework is the outcome of discussions among more than 250 experts and policy makers about integrated mitigation and adaptation win-win options in different agroecosystems of South Asia. Policy and financial innovations were recommended to enable smooth implementation of the Framework and its integration into the sustainable development planning of South Asia countries. The Symposium also recommended the launching of a Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia Network and the establishment of a South Asia Climate Outlook Forum.