GQ Ball Pen under BSEC scanner

The Bangladesh Securities and Replace Price (BSEC) has shaped a 3-member inquiry committee to evaluate GQ Ball Pen’s financial statements and investments of its sister concerns to fabricate particular compliance, transparency, and accountability.

The committee was as soon as asked to put up a detailed report to the payment within 60 days, in step with an office train, dated 11 November.
The committee consists of BSEC officers, alongside side Extra Director Md Faruq Hossain, Assistant Director Md Amirul Islam, and Assistant Director Binoy Das.

Once a most current trace of ballpoint pens, Econo, is now disappearing from the market as its proudly owning firm GQ Ball Pen has didn’t modernise the product for the highly competitive ambiance.

Beginning its enterprise in 1981, the firm has been witnessing gross sales decline and incurring losses over the last decade. Its halt competitor Matador Ballpoint Pen, which began enterprise in 1998, dominates the market at recent.

The portion designate of the firm closed at Tk130.90 on the Dhaka Inventory Replace on Wednesday.

Primarily based on the BSEC train, the inquiry committee will completely evaluate GQ Ball Pen’s financial statements as of the discontinue of June 2023. This entails a detailed examination of the firm’s resources, liabilities, fairness, profits, and cash flows.

Additionally, the committee will scrutinise non-performing investments by the firm’s sister concerns, amounting to Tk9.56 crore, as neatly as Tk8.35 crore held in the tax holiday reserve.

A senior reliable of the firm, on condition of anonymity, told TBS they’d bought a letter concerning the investigation. The reliable said that the firm is consuming to cooperate fully with the inquiry committee and can provide all obligatory paperwork as requested.

The reliable added that the firm is at the 2nd working at around 30% to 40% ability as a consequence of ongoing BMRE (Balancing, Modernisation, Rehabilitation, and Growth) actions at its present factory.

In May maybe also fair of this twelve months, the firm supplied its temporary extinguish in production to modernise its factory, aiming to pork up its pickle in the highly competitive market. The production suspension, supplied for twelve months, began on 30 June.

Primarily based on a disclosure on the Dhaka Inventory Replace, the firm has been facing operational losses since 2014. To address these losses and toughen product quality, the firm believes it’s needed to modernise its factory. This decision was as soon as driven by the declining performance of its “Econo” trace, as its mother or father firm didn’t modernize the product to defend competitive available in the market.

The GQ Ball Pen reliable said that quite loads of the machinery wanted for the factory modernisation was as soon as speculated to be imported from India. Nevertheless, following the drop of the Awami League authorities on 5 August, the firm administration has been unable to stable visas from India, inflicting delays in the machinery import project.

In GQ Ball Pen’s 2019-20 financial report, its fair auditor Mahfel Huq & Co. said the firm’s financial condition indicates that there could be fundamental doubt about its ability to continue the enterprise.

In the July-September quarter of 2024, the income of the firm stood at Tk59 lakhs, which was as soon as Tk1.87 crore in the identical duration of the outdated twelve months. In the course of this quarter, its fetch loss stood at Tk59 lakhs, which was as soon as Tk98 lakhs in the identical duration of the outdated twelve months.

Its per-portion loss stood at Tk.66, which was as soon as the shortcoming of Tk1.09 one twelve months prior to now.

In FY23, the firm urged a 2.5% cash dividend for their shareholders.

In May maybe also fair 2023, GQ Ball Pen sold off the unused land positioned at Chattogram to repay part of its loan taken from Southeast Financial institution.
GQ Ball Pen is one in all the oldest listed companies in the capital market. It was as soon as listed on the stock exchanges in 1986.

Even supposing the firm incurred losses for years, it on a usual foundation paid cash dividends to shareholders from retained earnings.

Primarily based on industry insiders, one crore students aquire one crore ballpoints every four days. An infinite variety of places of work also aquire ballpen’s on a usual foundation. Nevertheless, the entire market size is no longer any longer in the market, as the enterprise is mostly dominated by imported pens.

Among the local companies, Pran-RFL, Janani, and Kumu manufacture 25 lakh ball pens day by day. Meghna Neighborhood entered the ballpoint pen enterprise in 2019 and is promoting the products under the “Fresh” trace.

Olympic Industries and Rose Heaven accumulate closed ballpoint pen production as the market has was highly competitive as a consequence of imported products.