ILFSL posts loss for third straight year

The scam-hit International Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (ILFSL) continued to suffer losses for three consecutive years as it reported a loss of Tk 2.05 billion for 2021.
International Leasing is one of the four non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) associated with Prashanta Kumar Halder, a former managing director and CEO of NRB Global Bank, who embezzled huge amounts of money by purchasing shares of these NBFIs anonymously.
The NBFIs that PK Halder controlled have been struggling for survival for several years, hit by default loans, a lack of capital and a failure to repay investors.
PK Halder is charged with misappropriation of more than Tk 35 billion, as per the Bangladesh Bank investigation. He was arrested in India in May this year.
International Leasing posted a loss of Tk 2.05 billion for the year ended on December 31, 2021 as against a loss of Tk 6.94 billion in the previous year.
The company's consolidated earnings per share (EPS) were minus Tk 9.26 for the year that ended on December 31, 2021. It was Tk 31.30 in the negative a year earlier, according to a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Sunday.
The company's consolidated net asset value per share (NAV) stood at Tk 154.19 in the negative, as against Tk 144.93 in the negative a year ago.
The company's three years' cumulative losses stood at Tk 37.02 billion as the company suffered a big loss of Tk 28.03 billion in 2019.
Accordingly, the company has recommended no dividends for the past three consecutive years - 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The company provided a 5.0 per cent stock dividend last in 2018.
The company's losses, however, were decreasing gradually in the lost two years after 2019.
International Leasing said its net profit after tax increased by Tk 4.88 billion in 2021 compared to last year, thanks to a decrease in interest expenses, operating expenditures, and provisions for leases, loans and advances.
Each share of the company, which was listed on the DSE in 2007, closed at Tk 6.70 on Sunday, losing 2.90 per cent over the previous day. Its shares traded between Tk 5.0 and Tk 11.20 in the last one year.
Currently, the company's paid-up capital is Tk 2.21 billion, authorised capital is Tk 3.0 billion and the total number of securities is 221.81 million.
The sponsor-directors own 41.54 per cent stake in the company while the institutional investors 23.74 per cent and the general public 34.72 per cent as on July 31, 2022, the DSE data show.

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