Union Bank to debut on bourses Wednesday

Union Bank Ltd will make its stock trading debut on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) on 26 January. 

On 23 January, the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) credited the bank's primary shares to the beneficiary owner (BO) accounts of investors.

The bank completed its initial public offering (IPO) subscription between 26 and 30 December 2021.

According to DSE, investors subscribed to a total of Tk1,548 crore of the IPO shares, which was 3.62 times higher than its IPO size. 

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) allowed Union Bank to raise Tk428 crore from the capital market upon two conditions.

First, the bank must invest Tk200 crore in the capital market in 2021 as per Bangladesh Bank's circular. At the end of 2020, it had invested Tk4 crore in the capital market.

The other condition stipulates that until being listed on the capital market, the private sector lender may not declare any dividends for its shareholders.

The face value of the shares was Tk10 each.

Of the total funds raised, the bank will invest Tk271.50 crore in SME and project finance, Tk100 crore in government securities, Tk50 crore in the share market, and the rest for IPO expenses.

Prime Bank Investment and Brac EPL Investment are the issue managers of Union Bank's IPO.

As per the bank's draft prospectus, S Alam Group is its owner, and most of the bank's directors are from the same business group.

Union Bank was incorporated in 2013 and is operating as a full-fledged Islami bank. Its paid-up capital is Tk558.93 crore.

According to its financial statements, the bank's net profit was Tk98.84 crore at the end of 2020, 66% higher than a year ago. In 2018, its net profit was Tk95.36 crore, 37% higher than in 2019.

At the end of 2021, its classified loans stood at Tk420 crore, which was 2.52% of its total loan portfolio.