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The stock market watchdog has fined investor Abul Khayer and his associates Tk 2 million for manipulating the stock price of Genex Infosys.
On 28 March 2022, Genex Infosys was traded at Tk 129 per share and then fell to Tk 68 per share on 22 October, 2022.
From this point, the stock reached Tk 116 per share within a few working days on transactions of a huge volume of shares. After that, on 27 December last year, its share price soared to Tk 110 from Tk 75 without any valid reason.
Genex Infosys stood at Tk 60.30 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange at the market closing on Wednesday.
An order issued by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said Abul Khayer and his associates had been fined for non-compliance with securities laws regarding trading in Genex Infosys.
Abul Khayer and his associates had been fined several times for share price manipulation.
Earlier in June 2022, the securities regulator fined Abul Khayer more than Tk 2 crore on charges of manipulating share prices of Asia Insurance, Bangladesh National Insurance, and Green Delta Insurance.
BSEC also fined him and his associates for manipulating stocks of BDCOM Online and One Bank. The regulator fined Hiru and its associates Tk 3.55 lakh for their gains of Tk 48.5 crore.
In all the cases, Abul Khayer Hiru and his associates, including his family members, were involved in serial trading.
Serial trading is the buying and selling of shares between the same beneficiary accounts in order to impact the share price.
Genex Infosys Limited - Bangladesh's largest call centre service provider - raised Tk 20 crore through an initial public offering in 2019 for business expansion.
In the July-December period of 2023, the company's consolidated revenue stood at Tk 85.08 crore, which was Tk 84.54 crore in the same period of the previous year.
During the period, its consolidated financial cost stood at Tk 10.76 crore, which was Tk 5.08 crore a year ago.
Its consolidated profit after tax was Tk 19.31 crore, down from Tk 29.67 crore for the same period of the previous year.
The consolidated earnings per share of the company stood at Tk 1.66 and its net asset value per share was Tk 19.69 at the end of December 2023.
As of 29 February 2024, sponsor directors retain a 30.05 per cent stake, institutional investors 24.93 per cent, foreign investors 0.04 per cent and general shareholders 44.98 per cent in the company.