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Revenue earnings hit by currency devaluation and higher finance cost brought down income of Meghna Cement Mills to its lowest since 1995 listing in the stock market.
The company has reported a profit of 15.81 million for FY23, with a 71 per cent decline from the previous fiscal year.
The revenue earnings plunged 57 per cent year-on-year to Tk 3.52 billion in FY23, as the production fell.
Raw materials were not available, while cost of imports jumped owing to the devaluation of the local currency against the dollar, said company officials.
On the other hand, finance costs rose due to bank loans amid a sharp fall in revenue earnings.
The company bore a finance cost of Tk 347.52 million in FY23, up from Tk 346.85 million in the previous fiscal year.
Company secretary Md. Asaduzzaman said the company would show better results in the new quarters as its production gained pace.
The board, meanwhile, recommended 10 (5 per cent and 5 per cent stock) dividends for FY23.
The company plans to give stock dividend out of retained earnings for utilisation of this fund in new material handling projects and for installation of capital machinery to increase production capacity.
Asked about the reason for enhancing capacity while existing capacity is not fully used, the company secretary said the amount of capital to be generated through stock dividends would be Tk 15 million only. Some new machinery will be installed replacing old ones with the money for the sake of smooth operations.
Meghna Cement Mills showed mixed performance over the past five fiscal years. Annual profits ranged between Tk 54.08 million and Tk 81.45 million during the time.
The company's share price exhibited movements since February and peaked at Tk 75.20 on June 20.
Later, the stock slid to Tk 58.50 on October 29. Experiencing a 31 per cent price appreciation in seven sessions, it finally settled at Tk 74.10 on Wednesday.