Former chairman of Mercantile Bank AKM Shaheed Reza has announced his intention to sell 58 lakh shares of the bank through the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Reza, who was the chairman of Mercantile Bank in 2018, currently holds 4.27% or 4.72 crore shares in the bank. According to his announcement on the DSE, he will sell the shares at the prevailing market price on the public market or block market within 31 October.
On Thursday, Mercantile Bank shares increased by 0.98%, reaching Tk10.30. At this price, the total value of his shares for sale amounts to Tk6 crore.
Earlier, in April 2021, Bangladesh Bank removed Shaheed Reza from the board of Mercantile Bank due to his involvement in a loan scandal.
The central bank’s order said loans sanctioned for various nonexistent entities involving Prashanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder), former managing director of Reliance Finance, were wrongly transferred to bank accounts of different institutions involving him, Shaheed Reza, by corrupt and fraudulent irregularities.
Shaheed Reza is also chairman of Reza Group, which is engaged in the textile and readymade garments business.
Out of the total shares of Mercantile Bank, sponsors-directors hold 34.19% shares, institutional investors have 27.05%, foreign investors have 0.84% and the general shareholders own 37.92%.
The bank paid a 10% cash dividend in 2023, where its consolidated net profit was Tk205.82 crore.
In the first half of this year, its consolidated earnings per share reached Tk1.98, reflecting a 49% increase compared to the same period last year.
