Who are the defaulters from hydropower, manufacturing, hotels, others and trading sector in the matter of AGM? For how long have they delayed it in the past?

Fri, Jan 25, 2019 9:45 AM on AGM/Special AGM, Exclusive, Stock Market,

~Rishab Agrawal

There have been defaulters in all sectors regarding the issue of AGM. There are a few companies in each sector who have taken their duty to conduct AGM within the stipulated time for granted. The importance of conducting AGM timely cannot be stressed enough. And all the efforts to bring this issue to the concerned authorities notice have gone in vain. The companies continue to deprive stakeholders of their rights and the authorities continue to overlook the fact and refuse to have a clear stand regarding the matter.

Similar to the BFI and insurance sector, the reaming sectors also have some defaulters when it comes to the issue of AGM. To know about the matter, a sector-wise list has been compiled reflecting the AGM date of respective companies for FY 74/75 as well as FY 73/74.

A total of 10 hydropower companies have not conducted or even proposed their AGM for FY 74/75. While 3 companies have not conducted their AGM for FY 73/74. They are- Joshi Hydropower Company (JOSHI), Kalika Power Company (KPCL) and Panchakanya Mai Hydropower (PMHPL). However, three companies, namely Chhyangdi Group Power Company (CHL), Arun Kabeli Power Limited (AKPL) and Dibyashwari Hydropower Company (DHPL), conducted joint AGM for FY 73/74 and FY 74/75. Out of the remaining companies to conduct AGM for FY 74/75, only Nepal Hydro Developer (NHDL) has proposed dividend. Hydropower companies have a history of delaying their AGM up to a period of July.

Among manufacturing companies, only one company is at default for not only FY 74/75 but also for FY 73/74. This company is Shree Ram Sugar Mills (SRS). The company has neither conducted AGM, nor declared any dividends for both the years. The reaming companies in this sector have successfully conducted AGM on time and have endorsed dividends. SRS lags behind its competitors in both these aspects.

Looking at the Hotels sector, only Taragaon Regency Hotel (TRH) has not conducted the AGM for FY 74/75 while the remaining two have conducted it timely. Even for the previous year, TRH was the only hotel to delay their AGM up to a period of March. However, all three have endorsed dividends for FY 74/75.

Similarly, among Others, only Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) has defaulted in this matter and has not endorsed any dividend for FY 74/75 yet. The remaining companies have successfully conducted their AGM. CIT had recently conducted the AGM for FY 73/74 on 21st December, 2018 and endorsed 23.22% dividend for the mentioned fiscal year.

Finally, looking at the Trading sector, both the companies i.e. Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and Bishal Bazar Company (BBC) haven’t conducted their AGM for FY 74/75 yet while only STC has endorsed dividend of 35% for that period. BBC defaulted in this matter for FY 73/74 as well while STC delayed their AGM until 6th March, 2018.

To conclude, the list of defaulters in this matter is ever growing while an appropriate reason for this cannot be ascertained. However, with the authorities turning a blind eye towards the matter, these public companies are functioning under improper authority. In this scenario, the stakeholders of these companies are losing the most while the companies are running without any retribution for their actions.

Look at defaulter companies from Commercial Banks, Development Banks, Insurance Sector, Finance Sector and Microfinance Sector.