BSEC to appoint special auditor to scan Ring Shine’s export

The securities regulator has decided to appoint a special auditor to investigate Ring Shine Textiles Ltd's financial statements, including its exports, after meeting the foreign directors of the company on Thursday.  

Earlier, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) also decided to form an inquiry committee to investigate the company's financial position.

The company exported goods worth Tk982.37 crore in fiscal year 2018-19 but faced a shortage of working capital within the first nine months of fiscal year 2019-20. The company's sales declined and it incurred a loss in the third quarter of the last financial year.

Sources at the BSEC said the commission wants to know where the company's huge sum of money earned through export went and why it is in trouble.

The company said their regular production has been badly obstructed due to Covid-19 pandemic. Consequently, the company's factory remains closed due to a working capital shortage, a decline in orders from foreign buyers and a shortage of imported raw materials.

Furthermore, the company has extended its factory shutdown till 24 December this year. In September, the company announced it would shut its factory for a month.

Meanwhile, Ring Shine has not been able to use its initial public offering fund yet.

The company raised a fund of Tk150 crore from investors in 2019 to set up denim plants and repay bank loans. It issued each share at the face value of Tk10.

But the company used only Tk22 crore to pay back loans it took from Premier Bank. Ring Shine also took a loan from Woori Bank but did not repay it initially.

Consequently, the Dhaka branch of Woori Bank has requested the BSEC to intervene and ensure the recovery of the loan.

Considering such developments, the securities regulator froze Ring Shine's IPO account in February this year. However, it withdrew the decision in September after Ring Shine repaid its loan taken from Woori Bank.

Now the company has applied to the securities regulator to use 60% of the IPO fund as working capital and rest 40% to purchase denim machineries. In response, the BSEC has decided to investigate the company's financial statements.

The company's share price has been stuck at the floor price of Tk6.40 on the DSE for the last few months.

Ring Shine is engaged in manufacturing and marketing grey and finished fleece fabrics of various qualities and dyed yarn to the garments industry in Bangladesh and the international market.

Sources at the regulator said currently the company faces a shortage of working capital to continue its operations.

The company recommended 1% cash and 1% stock dividends for its shareholders for the 2019-20 fiscal year. In the last fiscal year, its earnings per share fell by 83% to Tk0.29.

In the third quarter last fiscal year, the company's net loss was Tk7.92 crore while it posted a net profit of Tk13.92 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

During the third quarter last fiscal year, they exported Tk80.94 crore which was Tk257.24 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Of the total shares of Ring Shine, its sponsors and directors hold 31.54% while institutional investors own 17.16%, foreign investors 0.02% and general investors 51.28%.