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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 5.54 points to close at 1,844.02 points on Monday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0.88 points to close at 349. 66 points. A total of 2,960,863-unit shares of 261 companies were traded for Rs 911 billion. Meanwhile, Sanima Middle Tamor Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Global IME Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 6.54 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 67 trillion.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing to float shares to the general public. If the plan materializes, the initial public offering (IPO) of the state-owned power utility will be the largest IPO in Nepal's stock market history. In the budget for the current fiscal year, the government had presented the plan for NEA's IPO. The power utility has already received a ‘Double A Double Plus’ credit rating from ICRA Nepal Ltd. A credit rating is a tool that assesses a company’s creditworthiness by measuring the likelihood of defaulting on its debt. It is issued by rating agencies and helps investors determine the risk associated with investing in the shares and corporate bonds issued by a company. Currently, the paid-up capital of NEA stands at Rs 169.03 billion. The paid-up capital in the current fiscal year will increase further after the addition of the power utility’s profit and the amount to be injected by the government. In the last six months, NEA earned a profit of Rs 11 billion. If the amount is added, the paid-up capital will further increase. Although a senior NEA official said that they have not yet decided on the price at which the shares will be issued. "The premium price of shares will be determined after further valuation of NEA," the official said. Established in 2041 BS with government investment, NEA has not yet announced dividends to its shareholders. The authority has been investing the profits and the amount received from the government to develop hydropower and transmission infrastructures. Portions of the profits have been added to the paid-up capital of NEA. Therefore, the paid-up capital of the authority is much higher compared to other institutions. NEA seeks to invest up to Rs 800 billion over the next five years in developing electricity transmission lines, substations, distribution lines and hydropower projects. "The plan is to collect Rs 200 billion through the IPO, so the premium value of the authority's shares is expected to be high," the official said. According to sources, NEA is planning to complete the preparations for the IPO issuance within six months to one year. Additionally, the authority is also seeking to issue the IPO in three phases instead of issuing all primary shares at once. As the shares worth billion of rupees will be floated during the proposed IPO, it is unlikely that the shares will be sold at once. Therefore, NEA plans to issue the IPO in three phases with a 10:10 ratio.

Concerns about the quality of the credit of banks and financial institutions operating in Nepal have risen even though the non-performing loans (NPL) of BFIs have been seen to remain significantly lower. The NPL ratio of BFIs, which had declined to 1.3 percent in July 2022, ticked up to 2.6 percent at the end of the first half of the current fiscal year 2022/23, according to the World Bank’s Nepal Development Update released in early April. According to the report, this is the highest NPL ratio registered in the past six years. Still, it remains very low by international benchmarks. In fact, the NPL ratio of Nepal is the lowest in South Asia. According to another World Bank report titled ‘South Asia Economic Focus, Expanding Opportunities: Toward Inclusive Growth’, the NPL ratio remained over five percent in the third or fourth quarter of 2023 in the case of other South Asian countries excluding Afghanistan. The latest NPL ratios in South Asian countries remain below the levels of 2021 and under the 10 percent threshold commonly used to indicate systemic stress in most South Asian countries, according to the World Bank. But the exceptions are Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where the NPL ratios reached above the 2021 level—9.4 percent in Bangladesh and 10.9 percent in Sri Lanka in September 2022—suggesting a deterioration in asset quality. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not convinced that the quality of the loans provided by Nepal’s banks and financial institutions is as good as it is being reported. “The asset quality of banks in Nepal has deteriorated, reflecting a decline in the repayment capacity of borrowers due to higher lending rates and rising leverage, a concern that is moderated by banks’ capital-adequacy ratios that are above the regulatory minima,” the IMF’s Article IV consultation mission said in a statement in late February. According to the IMF, discussions with central bank officials recognized the need for the central bank to ensure appropriate reclassification of loans and close monitoring of the impact of a potential deterioration in the repayment capacity of borrowers. The IMF mission had also called for the auditing of the country's 10 largest commercial banks by international auditing firms in the next phase given its suspicion about the quality of loans provided by the Nepali banks. “Though the NPL ratio of Nepali banks and financial institutions is very low compared to other South Asian countries, bad debts have jumped in recent months,” said a senior NRB official. “It is a matter of concern for us.” The latest Nepal Rastra Bank data shows the average NPL ratio of BFIs stood at just 2.63 percent of total loans by mid-February. The average NPL of commercial banks stood at 2.49 percent, development banks had 2.82 percent and finance companies had 7.82 percent. IMF’s assessment of the asset quality of Nepali banks has come at a time when the country’s economy is in the doldrums with market demand sinking. Protests are erupting against the high-interest rate being charged by BFIs. Some bank employees were also manhandled in recent weeks. Official statistics, however, paint a picture of the sound health of BFIs which the World Bank has also acknowledged in its Nepal Development Update report. Capital adequacy indicators of the BFIs also remain above minimum floors too, according to the report. The total average capital-to-risk-weighted assets ratio, a measure of bank capital adequacy, ended the first half of fiscal 2022/23 at 13.1 percent, above the regulatory minimum of 11 percent. But the World Bank has also expressed doubt about the loan quality in the report. “Although financial institution soundness indicators remain reassuring, some forbearance measures in place through the end of the fiscal year 2022/23 may be questioning actual asset quality in the banking sector,” reads the report.

The Chinese smartphone brand realme is all set to introduce the Realme C55, its latest offering in the C-Series phones in Nepal. The company in a press statement has claimed that packed with cutting-edge features, a sleek design, and powerful performance, the realme C55 seamlessly blends style and functionality. The phone is equipped with a 64MP camera, which is unprecedented for this segment and enables users to capture stunningly detailed photos with ease. Additionally, it also features an 8MP selfie camera and a range of photography functions, including the exclusive street photography mode, which is a first in the realme C series. According to the statement, realme C55 is equipped with a 90Hz FHD+ display, the largest display in the price segment for a smooth experience, and is also the slimmest smartphone in the segment with a thickness of just 7.89mm. The phone is powered with MediaTek Helio G88 chipset and 12nm process technology. The octa-core processor comprises two A75 2.0GHz cores and six A55 1.8GHz cores, delivering a powerful and efficient performance. The company informs that the chipset features a 64-bit CPU bit and operates on a 12nm process technology, which enhances power efficiency and reduces heat generation. "In a bid to enhance user convenience, the realme C55 introduced the first Mini Capsule in Android, bringing the best flagship-level experience to the entry-level segment. The mini capsule incorporates three critical features, including Charge Notification, Data Usage Notification, and Step Notification, all of which are designed to make life easier for users by providing them with useful information at a glance," reads the statement. The realme C55 comes with a massive 8GB of RAM. With up to 16GB of dynamic RAM, the smartphone can smoothly run up to 20 apps in the background, bringing next-level multitasking. The phone has a massive 5000mAh battery and the fastest 33W SUPERVOOC charging solution. The company claims that the phone can charge to 50 percent in just 29 minutes and can reach a full charge in 63 minutes. The realme C55 comes with the latest realme UI 4.0, which is based on the latest Android 13. This makes the C55 the first phone in the C series to feature realme UI 4.0. According to the company, the UI is designed to deliver a more immersive user experience, with features such as system-wide dark mode, customizable app icons, and a new UI design language. The realme UI 4.0 also includes several optimizations that help to improve the overall performance and battery life of the phone, as well as several new privacy and security features to help keep users’ data safe. The phone is available in Sun Shower and Rainy Night colors.