Singer's profit up 23.5pc in Q2

Singer Bangladesh Ltd's profit after tax rose 23.5 percent to Tk 40 crore in the second quarter of the year on the back of stable trading conditions and a number of new marketing initiatives.

Earnings per share increased 22 percent, said the company in a statement yesterday as it announced the unaudited results for the quarter that ended on June 30.

Turnover in the April-June period went up by 26.2 percent to Tk 640 crore.  Gross margins were 26.7 percent, slightly lower than the corresponding period a year ago on account of price promotions to boost air conditioner sales following the persistent inclement weather. The company brought down expenses to 15.1 percent of the revenue in the quarter from 15.9 percent from a year ago.

Speaking about the first half results, Gavin Walker, chairman of Singer Bangladesh, said: “Singer continued to enjoy significant unit sales increases in many product categories, in particular panel televisions by 50 percent on account of the FIFA World Cup.”

“Our factory operations have also been further augmented with 55 percent of first half sales being generated by products manufactured or assembled in-house,” he said in the statement. Singer's associate company International Appliances Ltd continued to increase production of refrigerators with strong sales expected in Eid-ul-Azha that falls in the third quarter.

Singer's financial service offerings such as Western Union, bKash and Grameenphone airtime reloads and utility bill payments increased in value by 23 percent in the first half of the year, bringing over 120,000 additional customers to its stores during the period. 

Singer is the largest retailer of consumer durables in Bangladesh, with 383 company-owned stores. It has more than 625 wholesale dealers as well. Singer Bangladesh is 57 percent owned by Retail Holdings Bhold BV of the Netherlands.