BD Financial Review
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Capital Market & Investment

Bank Asia's Profit Jumps 34 Percent as City Bank Posts a Steadier 20 Percent Gain in Bangladesh's Nine Month Earnings Season

Bank Asia's January to September net profit rose 34 percent year on year to Tk472 crore, outpacing City Bank's steadier 20 percent rise to Tk867.38 crore in Bangladesh's latest nine month earnings season. Bank Asia's growth leaned on a 19 percent jump in customer deposits and an improved bad loan ratio, while City Bank's larger profit base still added more raw taka despite its slower percentage growth. The comparison offers a window into what is actually driving bank profits this year.

November 7, 2026Read more

Islami Bank's Shares Fall Below Tk20 for the First Time Since 2020 as Losses Mount

Islami Bank Bangladesh's shares sank to Tk19.50 on Sunday, their lowest level since 2020, after the bank disclosed a nine month loss of roughly Tk3,286 crore. Classified loans now make up 51 percent of its loan book, and the bank has provisioned only a fraction of what regulators say it needs. The slide underscores how much cleanup work remains more than two years after Bangladesh Bank dissolved the bank's board and ended the S Alam Group's control.

November 4, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Sink to a Five Month Low as Garment Unrest and Earnings Jitters Collide

Dhaka's stock market sank to a five-month low on Monday as DSEX fell 52 points to 5,333, dragged down by a selloff in tobacco, banking and telecom blue chips. Brokerages linked the slide to earnings caution, the garment sector's wage protests, and global unease following the US midterm elections. Textiles were the only sector to post a gain, even as the industry's own factories shut down elsewhere in the country.

November 3, 2026Read more

Robi's Profit Grows 19 Percent as Grameenphone Keeps Slipping, Bangladesh's Telecom Rivals Diverge

Robi's profit grew 19 percent and revenue grew about 7 percent in the first nine months of 2026, while market leader Grameenphone's profit fell 4 percent and revenue slipped 1.6 percent over the same period. Grameenphone still earns roughly twice the profit margin Robi does, even as the smaller operator closes the growth gap. Both companies say the fourth quarter will decide whether the trend holds.

October 29, 2026Read more

Grameenphone's Nine Month Profit Slips 4 Percent to Tk2,171 Crore as Revenue Pressure Persists

Grameenphone's third quarter profit held almost flat at Tk750 crore, barely changed from Tk751 crore a year earlier, after two sharper quarterly declines earlier in 2026. Nine month profit is down 4 percent to Tk2,171 crore, with management pointing to inflation, heavy 700 MHz spectrum spending and a tough year-earlier comparison base as the main drags. The steadying numbers suggest the two year earnings slide may be levelling off even without a clear recovery yet.

October 27, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks End a Puja Shortened Week Flat at 5,450 as Brokerage Glitches Crimp Turnover

Dhaka's DSEX index closed a Durga Puja shortened trading week at 5,450.57, down just 0.03 percent over three sessions. Weekly turnover fell almost 18 percent to a daily average of Tk395 crore, partly because technical glitches at several brokerages briefly pushed trading to a near 10-month low. Textiles, general insurance and banking led sector turnover, while 213 stocks fell against 126 that rose. The flat headline masked a choppier week, with the index down 29 points over two sessions before recovering 27 in the last one.

October 25, 2026Read more

Confidence Power Hits the IPO Trail With a Tk400 Crore Solar Float, Bangladesh's First Roadshow in Three Years

Confidence Power held Bangladesh's first IPO roadshow in nearly three years on October 18, seeking to raise Tk400 crore through book building to fund two 100MW solar projects in Cox's Bazar and Mongla. Its latest accounts show revenue fell 26 percent in FY26 even as net profit held almost steady, a margin story investors will weigh before the books open. The roadshow is also a test of whether regulatory efforts to unclog Bangladesh's long dormant IPO pipeline are actually working.

October 21, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Approves Six Brokers to Trade Commodity Futures, Here Is What That Actually Means

The securities regulator has given six stock brokerages the green light to trade commodity futures, a concrete step toward Bangladesh's long delayed commodity exchange. The plan starts with gold, silver and crude palm oil contracts on the Chittagong Stock Exchange's platform, years after the idea was first approved. Here is what a commodity derivative actually is, why these three products came first, and what it would mean for investors and import dependent businesses once trading finally goes live.

October 20, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Slip to 5,422 as Textiles Dominate a Subdued Session

The DSEX benchmark fell 10 points to 5,422 on Sunday, October 18, its second straight losing session, as turnover shrank to a subdued Tk365 crore. Textiles alone accounted for 23% of trading, and a DSE official pointed to a scheduled technical test as part of the reason volumes were so thin.

October 19, 2026Read more

BSEC Revives Bangladesh's Tk1,700 Crore Investor Fund After a 26-Month Board Vacuum

Bangladesh's Capital Market Stabilisation Fund went 26 months without a governing board, until the securities regulator finally named a new seven member interim panel this week. The fund, worth about Tk1,700 crore in unclaimed dividends and stocks, is meant to protect small investors, but a legal dispute over whether Bangladesh Bank should control it left the whole structure frozen since 2024. BSEC now wants a dedicated law to settle the question for good, with a draft expected to reach parliament soon.

October 16, 2026Read more

BSEC Tightens Dividend Deposit Rules After Non Compliance, Eases Independent Director Reappointments

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that no listed company can present a cash dividend proposal at its AGM unless the full amount is already deposited in a separate bank account and certified. The move follows recent cases of non-compliance and comes with a warning of punitive action. In the same meeting, the regulator eased the approval process for reappointing independent directors, requiring only a clean credit report rather than a fresh review each time.

October 14, 2026Read more

Bangladesh's Foreign Investment Inflows Drop 28 Percent in First Half of 2026, Equity Hit Hardest

Foreign investors sent 28 percent less money into Bangladesh in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier, Bangladesh Bank data show. Net equity capital inflows, widely seen as the clearest sign of fresh investor commitment, fell 55 percent to just $155 million. Economists point to energy shortages, trade disruptions and broader macroeconomic strain as the main reasons behind the slide.

October 13, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Drop as Energy Shortages Squeeze Company Earnings, DSEX Falls to 5,404

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX index fell 46 points to close at 5,404 on Monday, as worsening gas and electricity shortages continued to rattle investors. Nearly four in five listed companies lost value, and turnover dropped to Tk453 crore, down more than a fifth from the previous session. Analysts say energy disruptions are starting to show up in corporate earnings, even as falling treasury bill yields make some stocks look comparatively cheap.

October 13, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Snap Four-Session Slide as DSEX Gains 38 Points on Bargain Hunting

The Dhaka Stock Exchange's benchmark DSEX index rose 38.12 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 5,463.35 on Wednesday, recovering a chunk of the roughly 125 points lost over the previous four sessions. Brokers at EBL Securities attributed the rebound to investors picking up recently battered stocks, though they described the session as volatile and overall sentiment as still subdued. The bounce comes just two trading days after BD Financial Review reported BSEC's pledge to slash IPO approval times, a reform meant to inject fresh listings into a market that had just closed lower for four straight sessions.

October 8, 2026Read more

BSEC Vows to Cut IPO Approval Time From 18 Months to Just 3

BSEC Chairman Masud Khan says the regulator will cut the time it takes to approve an initial public offering from around 18 months to roughly three, with at least one foreign owned firm among the companies expected to apply soon. The announcement is the third step in a reform push that began in July with a direct listing option requiring only a 10 percent share float, followed in September by a threat to mandate listings for large multinational and domestic corporates. The push lands at an awkward moment, with the DSEX benchmark having just closed lower for four straight sessions on weak bank earnings.

October 5, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Will Pay Middlemen 1.25% to Bring In Foreign Investment, Betting It Can Reverse a Historic FDI Slump

Invest Bangladesh will pay eligible facilitators an incentive equal to 1.25 percent of the foreign equity they bring into the country, under a scheme set to go fully live on October 15. The agency says it has already built a $1.3 billion investment pipeline over the past six months, with more than $400 million advanced to decision or implementation stage, led by Chinese, Middle Eastern, American and South Korean interest. The move comes as Bangladesh tries to reverse a near 70 percent collapse in fresh foreign investment this year, joining other recent efforts including a $1 billion diaspora investment platform and a VEON led push for $1 billion in digital economy financing. Whether a modest facilitator commission can meaningfully offset that collapse will depend heavily on how the scheme verifies that incentivized capital is genuinely new foreign money.

October 4, 2026Read more

mCapital Launches $1 Billion Fund to Turn Diaspora Remittances Into Bangladesh Investments

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur unveiled a $1 billion investment platform for non-resident Bangladeshis in New York on September 26, structured as three separate funds targeting fintech and banking reform, distressed bank assets, and healthcare infrastructure. The Distressed Asset Management Fund proposes to buy non-performing loans directly from banks, a private sector answer to a classified loan ratio that stood at 32.78 percent as of June, among the highest in the world. The launch comes as September remittances slipped to an 11 month low of $2.77 billion, a reminder that cash transfers alone are a volatile channel, and lands in the same week VEON pledged $250 million toward a separate $1 billion digital economy target, part of a broader scramble to attract capital after a near 70 percent plunge in fresh foreign investment this year. mCapital plans a roadshow across 100 cities worldwide but has not yet disclosed how much capital it has actually raised toward its target.

October 3, 2026Read more

Foreign Investors Return to Dhaka Stocks as MSCI Ends Three Years of Special Treatment

Foreign investors posted net inflows of about Tk70 crore on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in the first 24 days of September, a modest but real reversal after a year of wild swings in foreign turnover. The recovery lines up with MSCI's decision to end three years of special treatment triggered by Bangladesh's 2023 floor price mechanism, with normal index treatment resuming in November. Regulatory reforms from the BSEC and Bangladesh Bank, including a tenfold increase in the threshold for capital repatriation approval, are cited as the drivers, though foreign ownership remains concentrated in just 132 of roughly 360 listed companies.

October 1, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Extend Losing Streak to Fourth Straight Session as Earnings Jitters Persist

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX index closed lower for a fourth consecutive session on September 29, slipping to 5,524 and extending a losing streak that has now shaved 71 points off the index since September 24. Turnover fell 15 percent and more stocks declined than advanced, with EBL Securities pointing to investor caution over weaker earnings from June closing companies. That anxiety has a name: Islami Bank Bangladesh posted a first half loss of more than Tk1,300 crore, a sharp reversal from a year ago, while LafargeHolcim Bangladesh's resilient second quarter still sat inside a weaker half year overall. The pattern echoes an earlier dip that followed a Moody's driven rally, leaving investors watching upcoming earnings to see whether the retreat extends or stabilises.

October 1, 2026Read more

ADB Gives $50 Million to TK Group Unit to Nearly Quadruple Polyester Chip Output

The Asian Development Bank has approved $50 million in financing for Modern Syntex Limited, a TK Group subsidiary at the Mirsarai Economic Zone, to lift its polyester chip production capacity from 107 to 407 tonnes a day and refinance short term local debt. The expansion targets backward linkages for Bangladesh's textile industry at a moment when garment exporters are being warned that international buyers are diversifying their sourcing across more countries. The modernised facility is also expected to save roughly 4,840 megawatt hours of energy and cut CO2 emissions by about 2,222 tonnes annually.

October 1, 2026Read more

VEON Pledges $250 Million as New York Summit Targets $1 Billion for Bangladesh's Digital Economy

Telecom group VEON and its Bangladesh unit Banglalink brought BlackRock, Rothschild, the IFC and the World Bank into a closed door room in New York on September 28, betting that a $250 million pledge of its own money can help pull in $1 billion for the country's digital economy. The gathering, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, doubled as a showcase for how far Bangladesh's telecom sector has already moved, from a newly approved Starlink satellite service to a fresh digital banking licence and a new mobile payments app. It also arrived just two days after Bangladesh Bank cleared five digital banks to begin building toward launch, giving the New York pitch a concrete regulatory story to point to. Whether the full $1 billion actually materializes will depend on investors who have grown wary of Bangladesh's dollar shortages and a nearly 70 percent plunge in fresh foreign investment this year.

September 29, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Fall for a Second Session as Earnings Anxiety Ends the Rally

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX fell for a second straight session on September 27, dropping 45 points to 5,532 as turnover slipped 4 percent to Tk727 crore, just three trading days after the same index had climbed to 5,596 on a Moody's outlook upgrade and a wave of bank insider share purchases. Analysts attribute the reversal to anxiety over upcoming corporate earnings from June year-end companies, with large-caps including LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Pubali Bank and Islami Bank Bangladesh leading the decline. The pattern looks consistent with a bargain hunting rally running into the limits of investor conviction rather than a deeper flight from the market, though the picture should clarify as earnings reports arrive in the coming weeks.

September 28, 2026Read more

Bank Directors Add to Their Own Shareholdings as Dhaka's Market Rally Extends

Bank insiders in Dhaka are adding to their own shareholdings just as the DSEX index extends a rebound to 5,596, with Eastern Bank chairman Anis Ahmed set to receive a Tk38 crore share gift from his father and two Prime Bank insiders disclosing a combined Tk13.9 crore in block market purchases. Part of the activity reflects a long standing BSEC rule requiring bank sponsors and directors to collectively hold at least 30 percent of shares, but the timing alongside a genuine market recovery and a sovereign credit outlook upgrade has investors reading it as a mild vote of confidence from people closest to bank balance sheets. Turnover and market capitalisation data suggest the rally itself remains narrower and choppier than the index alone implies.

September 25, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Extend Rebound as DSEX Climbs to 5,596 on Bargain Hunting

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX gained 55 points on September 23 to close at 5,596, extending a recovery that follows a bumpier path than the headline number suggests. The index had already climbed for four straight sessions through September 20 on the back of a Moody's outlook upgrade and a government pledge to overhaul capital market rules, before a fresh fuel price hike triggered a bout of profit taking that briefly stalled the rally. This week's gain looks more like a bargain hunting recovery ahead of earnings season than a fresh leg of the original macro driven rally, analysts say, and the index remains only modestly above its September 20 level despite the string of positive sessions.

September 25, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Bank Governor Presses India to Buy More Amid a Widening $7.8 Billion Trade Gap

Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman urged India's high commissioner this week to import more from Bangladesh and invest more in its industries, an appeal aimed at the country's largest bilateral trade gap in South Asia. Bangladesh ran a 7.86 billion dollar trade deficit with India in fiscal year 2024-25, exporting just 1.76 billion dollars in goods against 9.62 billion dollars in imports. The request comes as Bangladesh's overall trade deficit hit a three year high of 27.28 billion dollars, with import growth driven mainly by fuel prices and inflation rather than investment. India's high commissioner responded by calling for further simplification of foreign investment procedures.

September 23, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Extend Rally to Four Sessions as DSEX Nears 5,600

Dhaka's stock market stretched its recovery to a fourth consecutive session on September 20, with the DSEX gaining 60 points to close at 5,592 and a cumulative rise of 213 points over the run. The rally has been broad based, with 287 of 388 traded issues advancing, and lines up closely with Moody's recent upgrade of Bangladesh's credit outlook and a government pledge to overhaul capital market rules within 90 days. But the week's fuller picture is messier than the daily headlines suggest, with turnover roughly flat and overall market capitalisation actually falling even as the index climbed.

September 22, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Promises Capital Market Overhaul in 90 Days, From Faster IPOs to a Derivatives Market

The prime minister's special assistant for capital market affairs says Bangladeshis should see visible changes in the battered Dhaka Stock Exchange within two to three months, backed by a detailed reform list that includes cutting IPO approval times from up to two years down to a few months. The pitch leans on a market that trades at barely half the daily turnover rate of regional peers like India and Thailand, and on a banking system the country's own securities regulator says is dangerously mismatched between short term deposits and long term lending. The promises landed the same week Moody's revised Bangladesh's sovereign outlook to stable and the DSEX extended a fragile rebound from a five session losing streak. Similar reform pledges have come and gone before, so investors are likely to judge this one by results rather than rhetoric.

September 17, 2026Read more

DSEX Snaps Five Day Losing Streak, Gains 93 Points After Brokerage Crisis Talks

The Dhaka Stock Exchange snapped a five session losing streak on September 15, with DSEX gaining 93 points to close at 5,472, a day after the exchange summoned its top 30 brokerage houses for emergency talks. The rebound follows a rout that had wiped out roughly Tk6,400 crore in market value and pushed the index to a three month low, with brokers blaming an energy crisis and Middle East tensions for the panic selling. Brokers used the meeting to push for a reopened pre opening session, expanded bond offerings and a margin net off facility, while the DSE pointed to its own plans for a derivatives market and a new website. Whether the gain holds will depend on issues far bigger than one trading session, including the foreign investor exodus and energy shortages that have weighed on the market for months.

September 16, 2026Read more

Dhaka Bourse Sinks to Three-Month Low as Regulators Summon Top Brokerages for Crisis Talks

The Dhaka Stock Exchange closed at a three month low on September 14 after a five session slide erased roughly Tk6,400 crore in market value, prompting the exchange to summon its top 30 brokerage houses for emergency talks the next day. The rout follows an earlier single day crash on September 7 that wiped out Tk6,781 crore, with brokers blaming a worsening gas and electricity crisis and fresh Middle East tensions for the panic selling. Foreign investors, who have been steadily exiting Dhaka shares for most of this fiscal year, now have one more reason to stay on the sidelines even as regulators scramble for a fix.

September 15, 2026Read more

US Firms Pledge $5 Billion More for Bangladesh as Overall FDI Keeps Sliding

US investors have pledged another 5 billion dollars for Bangladesh over the next five years, commerce minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir announced at AmCham's 30th anniversary dinner in Dhaka, a figure roughly equal to everything American Chamber member firms have invested here to date. The pledge arrives just as Bangladesh's overall foreign direct investment fell 15 percent to 1.47 billion dollars in FY2025-26, making the promised US capital worth several times the country's entire annual FDI intake if it materializes. AmCham's own leadership used the same event to press the government for a transparent energy roadmap, pointing to the kind of gas and power disruptions that have already rattled other investors this year.

September 14, 2026Read more

Foreign Investors Keep Fleeing Dhaka's Stock Market Even as Regulators Sweeten the Deal

Foreign investors kept pulling money out of the Dhaka Stock Exchange in August even after regulators eased paperwork rules, relaxed dividend remittance deadlines and secured MSCI's promise to resume index reviews in November. City Bank, BRAC Bank, Prime Bank and Square Pharmaceuticals all saw measurable declines in foreign ownership during the month, extending a pattern that has run through most of the current fiscal year. Analysts point to Bangladesh's capital gains tax regime, a rotation of global funds toward developed markets, and concerns about policy consistency and central bank leadership changes as the deeper reasons the recent incentives have not been enough. A late July episode, in which a single proposed margin lending rule triggered a sharp sell-off, shows just how sensitive foreign positioning in Dhaka has become.

September 13, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Signs Investment Protection Deal With Hong Kong as Overall FDI Slides 15 Percent

Bangladesh and Hong Kong signed an investment promotion and protection agreement this week, aiming to give investors from the territory, currently Bangladesh's seventh largest FDI source with 750 million dollars over five years, firmer legal guarantees. The deal comes as Bangladesh's overall foreign direct investment fell 15 percent to 1.47 billion dollars in FY2025-26, with weak infrastructure still cited as the main obstacle. Bangladesh also courted Hong Kong based Bangladeshi entrepreneurs directly, unveiling a new business directory to channel diaspora capital home.

September 11, 2026Read more

Bangladesh Revives Direct Listing After 16 Years to Lure Big Companies to a Struggling Bourse

Bangladesh's securities regulator has approved draft rules reviving direct listing, a mechanism frozen for sixteen years after valuation controversies, hoping to lure multinationals and large family owned companies onto a stock exchange that just hit a two and a half month low. Sixteen major firms including Unilever, Nestle Bangladesh and bKash have already met with BSEC to discuss the plan, and the regulator is pairing it with AI powered trading surveillance and a push toward same day settlement. Officials say companies that will not list voluntarily may eventually be required to.

September 11, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Sink to 2.5 Month Low as Energy Crisis Rattles Investors

The DSEX index fell 103 points, or 1.83 percent, to close at 5,558, its lowest level in roughly two and a half months, as a gas supply disruption following a fire at the Maheshkhali LNG terminal squeezed factory output and corporate earnings. Turnover fell 24 percent as investors grew cautious, with 348 of 389 traded issues closing lower. Political uncertainty around an opposition long march added to the pressure.

September 9, 2026Read more

DSEX Rally Snaps as Profit-Taking Erases a Three-Session Winning Streak

Dhaka's benchmark index opened Wednesday on the same bargain-hunting momentum that had carried it higher for two straight sessions. By the closing bell it had slipped 1.67 points to 5,662.09, as investors locked in gains and turnover eased. Cement and life insurance stocks held up best while textiles led the retreat.

September 4, 2026Read more

Dhaka Stocks Extend Rebound to a Second Day as Bargain Hunters Push DSEX Past 5,660

Two trading sessions after touching a two-month low, the Dhaka Stock Exchange's benchmark DSEX climbed for a second straight day on September 2, adding 23 points to close at 5,660. Turnover jumped 22.5 percent as investors hunted for bargains in beaten-down textile, insurance, and pharma stocks, though analysts caution the broader mood remains cautious.

September 3, 2026Read more

DSEX Slides to Two-Month Low After 13 Straight Losing Sessions

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX index has now fallen for 13 consecutive trading sessions, shedding nearly 5% to close at 5,598 points on August 31 i,s weakest level in roughly two months. Thin turnover and a darkening mood on the trading floor point to a market waiting for clarity on Bangladesh's energy crisis, even as remittances and foreign exchange reserves tell a brighter story elsewhere in the economy.

September 1, 2026Read more