DSE Reports Tk 49 Crore Operating Loss Amid Falling Trades

Bangladesh’s premier stock market, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), reported a significant operating loss in its core business for the 2024-25 financial year ending 30 June. According to the recently approved financial statements, the exchange incurred an operating loss of over Tk 49 crore. However, income from non-operating sources, particularly interest from fixed deposits (FDRs) and returns on bond investments, helped the DSE record a modest net profit.

The DSE Board approved the financial report at a meeting held on Sunday, 2 November.

During the 2024-25 fiscal year, the total trading volume at the DSE was Tk 1,11,000 crore, down nearly 26 per cent from Tk 1,50,000 crore in the previous year. The average daily trading value fell to Tk 472 crore from Tk 622 crore in 2023-24. The highest single-day trading in the year reached Tk 2,010 crore, while the lowest was Tk 159 crore.

The DSE primarily earns revenue from trading fees, charges from listed companies, data sales, licensing fees, and training academy programmes. The substantial drop in trading activity led to a significant decline in the exchange’s revenue. In 2024-25, total revenue amounted to only Tk 100 crore, compared with Tk 127 crore in the previous fiscal year, marking a decrease of Tk 27 crore or nearly 21 per cent.

The DSE’s operating loss for 2024-25 stood at Tk 49 crore, up Tk 28 crore, or 133 per cent, from the previous year’s loss of Tk 21 crore. Conversely, income from non-operating sources totalled approximately Tk 110 crore. Of this, nearly Tk 100 crore came from interest on FDRs and bond investments, while building rentals contributed an additional Tk 10 crore. This revenue allowed the exchange to report a net profit of Tk 33 crore, down 47 per cent from Tk 61.3 crore in the previous year.

The DSE’s profitability has been declining steadily since the 2021-22 fiscal year. At that time, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the exchange reported a net profit of Tk 124.8 crore. Profit fell to Tk 80.6 crore in 2022-23, and the downward trend has continued over the last two financial years.

A DSE director, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Dhaka Post: “The change in political governance in August last year and subsequent shifts in the regulator, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), made the capital market unstable. Persistent low trading throughout the fiscal year significantly affected DSE’s core business. As trading fees form the main source of revenue, the decline in transactions directly reduced overall profitability.”

Despite the modest profit, the DSE declared a 2 per cent cash dividend for investors for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Based on the total 180.38 crore shares, this translates to Tk 36.08 crore to be distributed as cash dividends.