Bangladesh Submarine Cable to give 51pc dividend for FY23 on record profit

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company (BSCC) announced on Tuesday highest ever profit and dividend for FY23, riding on increased revenue.

The news, however, failed to stir the blue-chip stock on the Dhaka bourse, thanks to the bearish sentiment hanging over the stock market.

BSCC gained a profit of Tk 2.79 billion for FY23, a 13 per cent increase from the year before. The year-on-year jump in profit led to 51 per cent cash dividend for FY23, up from 46 per cent for the previous fiscal year.

Yearly profit swelled mainly because of higher revenue from business operations and other incomes.

The company saw its revenue up 17 per cent to Tk 5.15 billion in the year ended in June this year, compared to the year earlier. The revenue generation was driven mainly by IPLC (International Private Lease Circuits) rent, IP transit service and co-location services.

Government policies stressing the need for digitalisation of government services and the introduction of 4G services contributed to the overall spike in the consumption of services provided by BSCC.

The company's data for the last six fiscal years indicates a consistent business growth. Shareholders also benefited from that as they received 5-46 per cent yearly cash dividends in an increasing order for FY18-FY22.

The stock traded at Tk 178.6 to Tk 243.90 each share between August 2021 and October 2022. It declined to hit the floor at Tk 218.90 per share on October 17 last year.

Since then, the stock has had no movement on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The company's share price also remained unchanged at Tk 217.20 on Tuesday on the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

BSCC also reported that its diluted earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 15.19 for FY23, increased from Tk 13.67 for the previous fiscal year.

Its net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) slid to Tk 14.68 for FY23 from Tk 16.76 for FY22. The company has not provided any explanation as to why the cash flow dropped.

The company secretary of BSCC could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts to reach him by phone.

According to a filing on Tuesday, BSCC has not yet been able to convert Tk 1.66 billion received from the government as equity money into share capital. Again, no clarification was given.

The company said it was not in a position to determine the potential number of shares issuable against the said equity money and consider the same to calculate the Net Asset Value (NAV) per share.

The company has been working on it and is hopeful about issuing shares to the Posts and Telecommunications Division of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology against the equity money as soon as possible, reads the disclosure.

BSCC was handed Tk 249.6 million in FY22, while Tk. 612.7 million more in FY23 as equity from the government for implementing a project named "Installation of 3rd submarine cable for expansion of international telecommunications system of Bangladesh".

The government owns 73.56 per cent stake in the company, while institutes 15.56 per cent, foreign investors 2.75 per cent and general investors 7.85 per cent.

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