Most multinationals draw bigger profits
Most listed multinational companies dealing in construction and pandemic-related products were blessed with a higher year-on-year growth in profits in the first half of the current year.
Of the 13 listed companies, seven logged higher profits and two returned to profits from losses.
Three counted lower profits and one is yet to publish the associated report.
Linde Bangladesh, HeidelbergCement Bangladesh, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh and RAK Ceramics witnessed the highest profit growths.
Sanitisation and pandemic-related product producers are doing well everywhere as demand is very high, said Yawer Sayeed, managing director and CEO of the AIMS of Bangladesh, the first private asset management company of Bangladesh.
Asset management companies prefer multinational companies when investing their funds.
Linde Bangladesh, which supplies oxygen, logged a 65 per cent growth in profits while sanitisation goods producer Reckitt Benckiser 7 per cent.
Demand for construction-related products was also higher in the country as many big infrastructure projects of the government are in progress, so the sector's multinational producers are making good profits, he said, adding that local companies were not lagging behind either. Profits of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh surged 156 per cent to Tk 215 crore.
HeidelbergCement Bangladesh's profit was Tk 66.6 crore whereas it was Tk 14 crore a year earlier.
RAK Ceramics also returned to a profit of Tk 43 crore whereas it was previously incurring loss of Tk 3.6 crore.
Multinational companies are doing better than many local companies mainly due to having better management practices and better sources of raw materials, said Sayeed.
"So, their costs become lower," he said.
The confidence people have on them and a higher efficiency give them the extra mileage, he said.
They bring the latest technologies and invest after careful planning and analysis, so their profitability is higher, added the asset manager.
Grameenphone witnessed the highest profit, logging Tk 1,741 crore, although it was 3 per cent lower year-on-year.
Singer Bangladesh, British American Tobacco Bangladesh and Marico witnessed 130 per cent, 43 per cent and 13 per cent growth respectively.
Demand for fast moving consumer goods bounced back as people are very much used to such products, so Marico did well, said Hamidur Rahman, a stock investor who always prefers investing in multinational companies.
Demand for tobacco-related products has always been high, which was a blessing for British American Tobacco Bangladesh, he added.
Listed multinational companies have performed better than expected amid the pandemic, said Shahidul Islam, chief executive officer of VIPB Asset Management.
"Though appreciation of their stock prices was not that much, we hope to see better performances in the long term," he said.
However, not all multinational companies have been left untouched in the aftermath of the pandemic. Bata Shoe incurred a loss as they could not open their shops.
But Reckitt Benckiser sold more products as the pandemic drove demand for those.
The companies' efficiency, innovation and research-based initiatives always keep them ahead, he added.
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