Olympic profits soar 41pc

The profits of Olympic Industries rose 41.38 percent in the six months to December 2013, riding on the back of higher operating efficiency.
The company reported Tk 41 crore in net profits in the period against Tk 29 crore in the same period a year ago. Its earnings per share rose to Tk 3.45 from Tk 2.43.
Bangladesh's young demography with a rising per capita income, increasing demand for quality packaged food coupled with Olympic's mindful product mix, supply chain management and marketing strategies drove its revenue growth in the last 5 years, said BRAC EPL, a leading stockbrokerage firm.
Olympic will continue its strong growth momentum, primarily driven by the biscuit segment, in the next five years when its revenue and earnings will grow by 21 percent and 24 percent, the stockbroker forecasted.
In fiscal 2014, the company plans to expand its biscuit production, which will increase its capacity by 40 percent, it said.
“We estimate a 31 percent and 20 percent revenue growth for the company in the next two years.”
Industry insiders predict the factory-made biscuit industry to grow 15-20 percent in the next five years, it added.
Olympic's margins are affected by the commodity markets, particularly for wheat and sugar, the main ingredients to make biscuits, whose prices declined 22 percent and 14 percent in 2013, it said.
“We expect such a weak commodity market to continue as forecasted in a recent World Bank study.”
Share prices of the company advanced 3.72 percent to Tk 201 yesterday with a price-earnings ratio of 29.03 points.
The company saw a profit rise of 46.67 percent to Tk 22 crore in the second quarter that ended on December last year from the same time in the previous year.
The company recommended 10 percent cash and 50 percent stock dividends for the year to June, 2013.