Banking stocks lose grace for high defaulted loans
Once known to many for their attractive stocks, banks are a long way from raising adequate interest among stock market investors as confidence has been sunk by high amounts of non-performing loans and low asset value.
Among the listed 31 banks, 21 are witnessing their stocks of a face value of Tk 10 being traded at less than Tk 20.
Stocks of AB Bank, First Security Islami Bank, ICB Islamic Bank, National Bank and Standard Bank even traded below the face value.
"Investors are not buying banking shares for mainly two reasons. One is for the vulnerability of the sector," said Prof MA Baqui Khalily, a former director of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).