Al-Arafah Islami Bank to auction land of Khulna Printing & Packaging
In the auction notice published on 16 April, the bank invited interested buyers to submit tenders to buy the land by 14 May 2023.
Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited is set to auction the mortgaged land of Khulna Printing and Packaging Limited (KPPL), a listed company on the stock market that has been non-operational since October 2021, due to non-payment of a loan.
The company, which is a concern of Lockpur Group, took the loan from the Motijheel branch of the bank which amounted to Tk67.50 crore including principal, interests, and other charges.
To secure the loan, the company mortgaged 123.5 decimals of land in Khulna and Dhaka, according to the bank's notice.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
In the auction notice published on 16 April, the bank invited interested buyers to submit tenders to buy the land by 14 May 2023.
On 21 October 2021, the court ordered a freeze on bank accounts belonging to Khulna Printing's Chairman SM Amzad Hossain and all his companies, due to a money laundering case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The company's factory has been shut down since then and SM Amzad Hossain has fled abroad.
A former officer from the company's share department, on condition of anonymity, told The Business Standard, "The company faced a major crisis due to various reasons, including the pandemic. The loan obtained from the bank was invested in the company, but as the business deteriorated, the company was unable to repay the loan."
BSEC steps
Khulna Printing and Packaging Limited got listed on the stock market in 2014 raising Tk40 crore through the initial public offering (IPO).
According to Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) data, since the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the company has been incurring losses.
In July last year, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) appointed a special auditor to review the financial statements of the company for the last three years to find out the reasons why the firm had not declared dividends for its shareholders.
The commission had earlier observed that the turnover of Khulna Printing sharply fell in fiscal 2020-21, but its costs increased suspiciously.
Moreover, its financial statement did not represent the truth, the stock market regulator observed.
As of October 2023, sponsors and directors jointly held 39.76%, institutions 1.11% and public investors 59.13% shares in the company.
The last trading price of the company at the DSE was Tk8.90 per share on Wednesday.
