Shares of Dish TV, a part of the Essel Group, plunged 10% on Tuesday after the direct-to-home (DTH) player in an exchange filing said that its shareholders had rejected four of six resolutions at an annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday. This development came in the backdrop of an ongoing legal tussle between YES Bank, the largest shareholder in the company, and the promoters of Dish TV over the restructuring of the board.
In an exchange filing, Dish TV said that resolutions related to the adoption of financial statements for fiscal FY21 and FY22, appointment of new statutory auditors S N Dhawan & Co., and appointment of Rakesh Mohan as non-executive independent director were rejected by the shareholders at the AGM on Monday.
The company further stated that the AGM had been adjourned sine die and its board strength has come down to two members.
"The conclusion of this AGM was subject to the adoption of the financial statements of the Company for the financial year 2020-21 and financial year 2021-22 by the Shareholders. In view of the non-approval of these agenda items the present AGM stands adjourned sine die for the said Items. The board of directors of the Company at the subsequent meeting shall finalise the requisite steps to be undertaken in respect of holding the adjourned AGM, which will be subject to receipt of such necessary approvals," Dish TV said in a BSE filing.
Last week, the company’s Chairman Jawahar Lal Goel, the younger brother of Essel Group founder Subhash Chandra, resigned from the company's board. The exit of the promoter family Essel Group paves the way for YES Bank, which holds a 25% stake in Dish TV, to take charge of the board of the broadcast satellite service provider.
In August this year, Dish TV had announced that Goel would not seek a re-appointment on its board and independent director Bhagwan Das Narang would step down after his term expired. At the company’s extraordinary general meeting in June this year, over three-fourths of shareholders had voted against the reappointment of Goel as the managing director of the board.
Dish TV had also agreed to appoint three independent directors - Girish Paranjpe, Arvindnachya Chandranachya, and Madan Mohanlal Verma - proposed by YES Bank. They were part of the seven directors YES Bank had proposed in its letter dated 5 September 2021, when the private lender alleged about corporate misgovernance and sought an overhaul of Dish TV’s board.
In May 2020, YES Bank had acquired a 24.19% stake in Dish TV by invocation of 44.53 crore pledged shares. As on date, Dish TV promoters own a 4.04% stake in the company, while YES Bank holds 24.78% shares. Among others, foreign portfolio investors and mutual funds hold 10.7% and 1.59% shares, respectively, while the remaining are owned by retail investors.
On Tuesday, Dish TV share price opened a tad higher at ₹17.04 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), against the previous closing price of ₹17.06. During the session so far, the smallcap stock dropped 10% to hit an intraday low of ₹15.31. The market capitalisation decreased to ₹2,819 crore as 48.8 lakh shares changed hands over the counter on the BSE, as compared to the two-week average volume of 47.09 lakh stocks. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 168 points at 57,313 levels, paring three-fourths of the early gains.
The smallcap stock hit a 52-week high of ₹22.95 on September 27, 2021, and a 52-week low of ₹10.23 on June 20, 2022. The share price has fallen 24% in the last three sessions and nearly 12% in a week. In the past one year, the stock has delivered a negative return of 29.5%, while it has fallen 18.35% in the calendar year 2022.
