GSK share soars on Unilever buyout
The share of GlaxoSmithKline has started skyrocketing in the Dhaka bourse just after consumer goods giant Unilever announced to buy majority stakes of the GSK's health food and drinks business in Bangladesh.
The price of each of the British pharmaceutical company's share rose 51.75 percent or Tk 561 in the last nine trading sessions to reach Tk 1,645 yesterday.
GSK Bangladesh announced on December 4 that it agreed to sell its nutrition business in the country to Unilever for Tk 1,640 crore, which was Tk 45 crore more than the market value of the company on the day.
Horlicks is the most popular brand of GSK in Bangladesh.
The current upward trend of GSK stock is about-face of what it was two months ago when the company announced to shut down its pharma unit in the country.
After the announcement of the closure, the stock price had declined 26 percent to Tk 1,067 from Tk 1,447 within one and a half months. Meanwhile, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, declined 28.30 points or 0.52 percent to close the day at 5,332.80 yesterday.
Turnover, one of the major indicators, fell 24.4 percent to Tk 514.04 crore.
Dragon Sweater was the most traded stock with a turnover of Tk 19.62 crore.
Among the major sectors, energy and telecom rose 0.6 percent while engineering was down 0.1 percent. Prime Islami Life Insurance was the day's best performer with a 9.98 percent gain while Delta Spinners was the biggest loser, shedding 6.94 percent.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 202 to 112 and 29 securities remained unchanged.
The key index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange fell 67.20 points or 0.67 percent before finishing the day at 9,878.66.
The port city bourse traded 93.51 lakh shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 22.12 crore.
