Olympic to invest Tk 28cr to expand bakery business

Bakery products maker Olympic Industries has decided to invest about Tk 28 crore as it looks to expand the business even though economic indicators are forecasting a gloomy outlook. 

While many companies are keeping away from making investments in the present economic situation, the listed firm has decided to import equipment related to baked snacks, cartons and chocolate.

The company will import one complete set of machinery and spare parts for establishing a second baked snacks processing line at its Narayanganj factory.

It will also purchase other accessories from local sources for around Tk 3.11 crore, Olympic said in a disclosure published on the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.

This second processing line will enable the production of an additional 200 tonnes of baked snacks per month to meet growing demand.

The company has also decided to enter into an agreement with Lucerne Cocoa & Chocolate Products for a two-year term from September 1, 2022, to purchase various chocolate products for sale under Olympic's own brand name.

Founded in 2010, Lucerne makes chocolates for businesses and has worked on more than 500 projects to date, according to the company's website.

Olympic Industries also decided to import a new corrugated board production line with an automatic bailing press, dust collector and required standard accessories from China.

This is to enhance its production capacity at making cartons of various sizes by 102 million pieces per annum for packaging products.

The import and installation of the line with some other required local items will cost around Tk 11 crore, the disclosure said.

The company has decided to start the second phase of civil construction and other works involving a five-storey extension to a building measuring around 44,100 square feet.

The revised expenditure for the purpose now is estimated to be around Tk 12.20 crore.

Completion of the second phase will address a shortage of storage space for raw materials, packing materials and finished products, it said.

The company will also work on arranging the construction of a 9,000-square-feet floor area on a newly purchased land near its Lolati factory at a cost of Tk 1.65 crore to meet the shortage of processing and storage space.

Stocks of Olympic Industries rose 3.65 per cent to Tk 142 on the DSE yesterday.