While the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer economic activities, Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) has managed the crisis than most others as it posted an increased sale of hygiene items.

And even though the pandemic has taken a toll on the operating costs, the group's consolidated profits stood at Tk 9.7 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal.

This is a huge feat for the company as it was Tk 29.9 crore in the red during the same quarter a year ago.

"Our profits rose thanks to higher sales, controlled operating costs and lower finance costs," said Pradip Kar Chowdhury, chief financial officer of ACI.

ACI's sales grew 16 per cent to Tk 1,823 crore in the July-September quarter compared to the same period last year. Operating expenses were up 3 per cent to Tk 410 crore.

Net finance cost declined 11.57 per cent year-on-year to Tk 92.33 crore, the company's financial report shows.

"The sales of pandemic-related hygiene products grew over the past few months. This boosted our brand value," Chowdhury said.

ACI Consumer Brands sells items in the categories of toiletries, home care, hygiene, electrical, electronics, mobile, salt, flour, foods, rice, tea, edible oil and paints.

ACI Agribusinesses is the largest integrator in Bangladesh in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, farm mechanisation, infrastructure development services and motorcycles, while ACI Retail Chain is the largest network of super-shops operating through 129 Shwapno outlets.

It has a presence in the pharmaceuticals segment. The company's hygiene products range from sanitizers to hand wash and soaps.

The sales of ACI's Consumer Brands surged 68.85 per cent to Tk 209.23 crore in the first quarter.

The pharmaceutical segment saw an increase in sales to Tk 314 crore, up from Tk 299 crore in the first quarter in 2019.

ACI' shares rose 3.81 per cent to Tk 264 yesterday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange after news broke that the conglomerate had returned to profits in the first quarter.

"We were able to keep our employees motivated and this positively impacted our company during the pandemic," said a top official of ACI preferring anonymity.

"No one lost jobs during the pandemic. Moreover, the salary of the employees was reviewed positively, which ultimately motivated them to work harder throughout the tough period."

The company's variable costs on the advertisement and promotional activities were also slashed, he added.

Net operating cash flow per share was Tk 30.17 in the negative in the first quarter. It was Tk 7.24 in red during the same period in 2019.

ACI's consolidated net operating cash flow was also in the negative because of high consumption of working capital to build up inventory and cater to increased demands, the company said in a disclosure published on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website yesterday.

It declared 80 per cent cash and 10 per cent stock dividends for the year that ended on June 30, 2020, despite incurring losses of Tk 105 crore in the year. The loss stood at Tk 74 crore a year ago.

The dividends were recommended out of accumulated profit, the company said in its statement.

It was not recommended from the capital reserve, revaluation reserve, unrealised gain or profit earned before the company's incorporation and through reducing paid-up capital, anything that would turn post-dividend retained earnings negative or debit balance, ACI added.

In fiscal 2019-20, its consolidated earnings per share were Tk 18.45 in the negative against Tk 13.51 in the negative for the same period the previous year.

ACI's total revenue was about Tk 6,974 crore in the last fiscal year, up from Tk 6,314 crore a year ago.

The company has a reserve and surplus of Tk 874 crore, according to DSE data.

"It's a good sign that a large market capital-based company like ACI has returned to profits amid the pandemic," said Abdul Mannan, a stock investor.

ACI's market capitalisation was Tk 1,458 crore as of yesterday.

Since the company had incurred losses for the last few quarters, mainly due to higher finance costs, ACI should focus on getting equity investment to expand and repay loans early, the investor said.

"We want to see good companies like ACI make a profit because it boosts the confidence of investors," he added.