Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN): Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday fined Saif Powertec for manipulating its earnings per share to get higher premiums in an initial public offering.

The company was fined BDT 0.2 million, the BSEC said in a statement.

The regulator also fined the company’s auditor, SF Ahmed and Co, BDT 0.3 million for not properly auditing the earnings per share mentioned in the draft prospectus of the IPO.

The market watchdog found that the company’s EPS as of 2011 should have been BDT 3.56, but the company showed it to be BDT 4.1 in the accounts.
The regulator also warned ICB Capital Management, the issue manager of Saif Powertec, which sought regulatory approval to raise BDT 300 million from the public.

The private sector operator at Chittagong Container Terminal also sought BDT 25 as premium per share, in addition of a BDT 10 face value per share.
The BSEC also fined Mercantile Bank Securities BDT 0.1 million for breaching securities rules.

BBN/BB/AD/13Mar-13-10.25am (BST).