Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh recommends lowest dividend in 9 years despite profit growth 

Reckitt Benckiser (Bangladesh) PLC's board has recommended a 550 percent cash dividend, the lowest in nine years, despite a 24 percent growth in profit last year. 

The multinational company reported a profit of Tk 82.04 crore in 2023, up from Tk 65.91 crore in the same period the previous year. 

Thus, earnings per share went up to Tk 173.65 last year, which was Tk 139.50 in the year ended December 31, 2022, according to a filing on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. 

Reckitt's cash dividend recommendation follows the trend of the listed multinational companies in Bangladesh posting healthy profits in 2023. The dividend payout dropped for most of them since they struggled to repatriate funds to their foreign owners owing to the US dollar crunch.

Shares of Reckitt started trading at Tk 4,932.3 but declined 5.58 percent to Tk 4,657 as of 12:06 pm today.