ACI continues to log profits

ACI, one of the country's leading business houses, has been continuing to log profits for the last three quarters as it registered growing sales of consumer goods, packaging materials and food from its retail chain Shwapno.

ACI said it returned from losses and made Tk 22.31 crore in profit in the July-March period of fiscal 2020-21. The company incurred Tk 100 crore in losses in the same period the previous year.

However, stocks of ACI dropped 2.69 per cent to Tk 249 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday.

The company, whose operations range from a retail chain, food, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods to agricultural machinery, went in the red in fiscal 2018-19 for the first time in seven years.

It could not recover from losses in the subsequent year.

From the first quarter of fiscal 2020-21, it has been booking profits.

"Due to the growth in consolidated revenue along with decline in certain operating expenses and reduction in finance cost, consolidated profit has demonstrated a positive move compared to the same period of the previous year," ACI said in a DSE disclosure.

"Our animal, motor and consumer brand business segments performed better this year," said Pradip Kar Chowdhury, chief financial officer of ACI.

Though the pharmaceuticals unit was the biggest contributor to profit, their expectations were even higher, he said, adding that food business segment also returned to the black.

"Our profits were positively impacted by lower finance cost which was mainly due to low-interest regime in the banking sector," Chowdhury added.

The company's operating expenses dropped 4.7 per cent to Tk 120 crore in the period. ACI's net finance costs fell 24.7 per cent year-on-year to Tk 265 crore in the July-March period of the current fiscal year.

Md Belal, a stock investor, said many investors including him were disappointed to see the loss because ACI had a long history of generating profits and paying dividends.

It provided handsome dividends last year from money saved from its previous profits despite incurring losses, he said.

"So, we were waiting to see the rebound of the company. It is good to see that the company is booking profits," he said.

The ACI's revenue stood at Tk 5,696 crore in the nine-month period which was Tk 5,189 crore in the same period of the previous year.