However, nearly 60 listed companies have neglected the regulation and have not sent their quarterly report as per the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Among the companies, few have published their reports way away than the given deadline while few have completely stopped publishing their reports.
Aside from keeping a record of such disobedient companies, SEBON do not take action against the companies which also gives nerve to the companies to defy the rules.
Krishna Prasad Ghimire, Director of Listing Department at SEBON said that the current mechanism does not explain the action to be taken against such noncompliance companies. The board is in a discussion about the possible action that can be taken against the companies, he informed.
Out of 32 listed hydropower companies, 3 have stopped publishing their quarterly financial reports while those who publish their reports do not follow the set standard.
Ghalemdi Hydropower, Joshi Hydropower Development Company and Panchakanya Mai Hydropower are three companies that have stopped published their reports.
Joshi Hydropower that issued IPO one year ago has not published a single report till date. Similarly, Ghalemdi Hydropower that issued IPO in last March also skipped publishing its reports. In the meantime, Panchakanya Mai Hydropower issued its last financial report in the third quarter of FY 2075/76 and has not published the report since then.
According to the hydropower companies, they have not received reports from the finance department, thus, they failed to publish them.
Upon asking for clarification regarding the issue, Panchakanya Mai Hydropower explained that most of its employees resigned from the company recently due to which publishing of quarterly reports has been delayed. However, it should be noted that the company has not published its report for the last three quarters.
Similarly, Joshi Hydropower, showcasing a similar reason, said that its finance department failed to prepare the report in time. The report will be published in the next few days, he said. The company has not published any report despite listing its shares one year ago.
Moreover, in the absence of proper guidelines, many hydropower companies haphazardly publish their reports. One such example is Himalayan Power Partner that published its quarterly report disclosing only current assets and liability. The company did not feel the compulsion to reveal its profit/loss to its investors.
Such a negligible act has cost investors their money. The stock price of these companies has fallen below their face value in the secondary market. As on February 20, the last traded price of Ghalemdi Hydropower was Rs 79, Joshi Hydropower was Rs 65 and Panchakanya Hydropower was Rs 100.
