Alif Industries to invest Tk 400cr to expand garment business

Alif Industries plans to invest Tk 400 crore to expand its business in the garment sector.

 The company will raise the capital to set up a spinning mill with the capacity of running 50,000 spindles and another green plant consisting of 25 production lines to manufacture woven denim.

The sister concern of Alif Group disclosed the information through a posting on the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.

The company will raise the money by issuing three crore ordinary shares at an average price that is 30 times of its earnings per share and the three months' moving average of the market price.

The EPS of the company was Tk 1.39 in the October-December period last year, according to the DSE.

Shares of the company were traded at Tk 105.60 yesterday at the prime bourse. In the last three months, the share price of Alif Group ranged between Tk 143 and Tk 95, DSE data showed.

The company prefers the stockmarket for sourcing the funds instead of bank loans as the market price of the company's shares remained high, said Azimul Islam, managing director of Alif Group.

"Our directors will make equity investment if we don't get expected investors."

The main focus of Alif Group is to develop backward linkage industry in the readymade garment sector, he said.

As Alif Industries is a knit-based factory, it will produce yarn as part of efforts to reduce import dependency, Islam added. Alif Industries will hold an extraordinary general meeting to win the approval in favour of its investment decision on March 11 and later the proposal will be sent to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission for permission.

Alif Industries, previously known as Sajib Knitwear, was listed with the capital market in 1995. The company started trading in the main market in December last year following its return from the over-the-counter market.

Shares of a company that are de-listed from the main trading floor are transacted on the OTC market.

The company was placed in 'A' category from 'Z' category in January this year when it disbursed 10 percent cash and 25 percent stock dividends for the year that ended June 30, 2017.

Alif Group also bought CMC Kamal Textil Mills from AHM Mustafa Kamal, the planning minister, and changed the name of the company to Alif Manufacturing Company in December last year. The group has been involved in the garment business for over three decades. Starting with Alif Garments Ltd, it now has eight garments factories.

These companies produce woven tops and bottoms and employ about 8,000 people. The group has recently acquired Shadhin Garments that has 100 production lines, according to the group's profile.

Recently, the group's revenue touched Tk 1,222 crore, according to its official website.