Lafarge moves up in market rankings

Lafarge Surma Cement has moved up to the A category of shares on the twin bourses from Z category after it disbursed its maiden dividends to shareholders.

Shares in the A category are generally considered to be the good ones.

The promotion to the A category means the multinational company's share trading cycle or settlement period has come down to T+2 from T+9.

In other words, the transaction of Lafarge shares must now be completed within two days of making the trade: the buyer must make payments and the seller must transfer ownership of the stock to the buyer in that timescale.

The Z category is for companies that do not hold annual general meetings regularly and declare dividends. Although Lafarge regularly held annual general meetings, it could not give dividends due to accumulated losses.

In June last year, eleven years after its listing on the stockmarket as the lone greenfield company, Lafarge declared its maiden dividend of Tk 0.50 per share after it managed to cover up its losses the previous month.

And later in March this year, Lafarge, which started commercial production in 2007, announced another 5 percent cash dividend or Tk 0.50 per share for 2014.

It also declared 5 percent interim cash dividend for this year out of the provisional net profits for the period ending in May.

Lafarge's consolidated net profit was Tk 98.40 crore at the end of May.

The upgrade to the A category has had a positive impact on its share price, which rose 2.43 percent yesterday.

Each Lafarge share traded between Tk 116.60 and Tk 122.90 before closing at Tk 118 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The manufacturer of Supercrete brand also topped the turnover chart on the premier bourse with its transaction of 31.41 lakh shares worth Tk 37.50 crore.

Meanwhile, stocks continued to fall for the fourth day, with DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka bourse, declining 14.52 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,489.45 points.

Turnover rose 14.2 percent to Tk 434.53 crore.

Of the traded issues, 114 advanced, 158 declined and 46 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.

Among the major sectors, cement rose 1.77 percent in market capitalisation, followed by mutual fund at 1.32 percent and textile 0.81 percent.

Fuel and power lost 1.27 percent, followed by bank 0.83 percent and telecom 0.64 percent.

Hakkani Pulp and Paper was the day's best performer, advancing 9.87 percent, while Al-Haj Textile was the worst loser, slumping 7.6 percent.

Chittagong stocks also fell yesterday with the bourse's benchmark index dropping 56.01 points to close at 8,420.49.

Losers beat gainers on the Chittagong Stock Exchange as 138 stocks declined and 68 advanced, while 29 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse traded 1.32 crore shares and mutual fund units, generating a turnover of Tk 35.80 crore.