ADN Telecom’s IPO roadshow gets warm responses 

Leading IT and telecoms company ADN Telecom has attracted huge responses to its roadshow ahead of opening up to the public to raise Tk 570 million from the stockmarket.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Oct 2017, 02:45 PM
Updated : 19 Oct 2017, 05:26 PM

ADN Telecom with Tk 448.6 million in paid-up capital has a reputation as a front-line service provider in the sector, providing customers at home and abroad with data, voice and internet services.

The roadshow for the company’s initial public offering, or IPO was held at the Le Meridien hotel in Dhaka on Thursday evening.

ADN Chairman Asif Mahmood, who spoke about the growth of the firm at the roadshow, said: “We have proved what we can do in work, not words.” He called for help from related people for the listing of the company on the stock market. "We will continue fulfilling our promises like we did before.”

Besides top stock exchange officials, representatives of merchant banks, asset management firms, stock dealers, banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance companies and issue managers were present at the roadshow.

ADN Telecom’s net profit almost doubled in the past four years to Tk 105.93 million in fiscal 2016-17, according to the company’s prospectus.

Return on assets, an indicator of how the company is profitable relative to its total assets, rose to 8.56 percent in fiscal 2016-17 from 8.21 percent a year ago. It gives an idea about how the company’s management has efficiently used its assets to generate earnings.

On the other hand, return on equity or ROE has edged down to 14.64 percent in fiscal 2016-17 from 14.76 percent a year ago. ROE measures the company’s profitability by revealing how much profit it has generated with the money shareholders have invested.

The company’s capital structure with debt accounting for 25 percent and equity finance taking up 75 percent shows its inner strength. The debt to equity ratio here indicates that the company depended less on loans than on equity investment in fiscal 2016-17.

IPO proceeds will be used for balancing, modernisation, rehabilitation and expansion or BMRE, the construction of a new data centre and loan repayment, according to the company’s prospectus.

As much as Tk 326.7 million will be spent on BMRE, Tk 54.9 million on the new data centre and Tk 159 million on loan repayment.

ADN Telecom has signed a deal with issue management company ICB Capital Management to become listed on the stock market.

At the end of FY2017, the company was valued at Tk 1.24 billion. The company’s directors and entrepreneurs own 73.29 percent of its 44.86 million shares. The rest is owned by various individuals and institutions.

Earnings per share, another indicator of the company’s profitability, rose to Tk 2.52 as of June 30, from Tk 2.1 a year ago. Net asset value, which refers to total assets minus total liabilities divided by the number of its shares outstanding, increased to Tk 16.13 per share as June 30, compared to Tk 14.2 a year ago.

ADN's consultant Abu Saeed Khan made a presentation on the various sides of the company at the programme.

He said ADN Telecom provides wireless, satellite and fibre optic cable services at retail and corporate levels.

Its clients include local and foreign banks, multinational companies, foreign embassies, development agencies, airlines, hospitals and other businesses.

The firm is renowned for its capability to transfer data safely, Khan said.

ADN Managing Director Henry Hilton, ICB Capital Management CEO (Additional Charge) Md Sohel Rahman and Roots Investment Managing Director Sarwar Hossain also delivered speeches at the event.