PHP Group: Moving ahead
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
In a giant shake-up the PHP Group, a leading industrial conglomerate, has embarked upon a host of new projects over the recent months.
In the span of last six months it has owned a state-of-the-art plant to produce low manganese steel bar of high strength reinforcement steel that scales down steel consumption.
Another giant leap is its initiative to set up an HR Coil manufacturing plant in Chittagong, in association with three other major industrial groups such as KDS Group, ABC Steel and S. Alam Group.
The HR Coil manufacturing industry will be the country's first ever HR Coil producing plant, and the single largest private investment in the country.
Stake holding of Singer Bangladesh Ltd is another important feather in the caps of PHP Group, which has acquired a majority stake of Singer Bangladesh, a subsidiary of Retail Holding NV.
The Group is moving forward at such a definitive pace with new plants coming under the PHP fold one after another that some informed circles now would like to label it as the future "Reliance" of Bangladesh.
PHP Group chairman Alhaj Md Sufi Mizanur Rahman, however, said he has a vision to become "Tata of Bangladesh" by the year 2020.
In an interview with the FE he said he loves to think great and in a somewhat different way from other industrialists.
"I've prepared myself to become an industrialist for a long time. No matter how long I will live. But I have built up my seven sons who will steer the PHP Group to make it "Banglar Tata," he said.
"TATA of India is the world leader in steel product manufacture. PHP aims to set up such an industry to produce almost all industrial finished products from iron ore," he said.
He said that the PHP Group has acquired AMK Steels Ltd, a modern steel plant that manufactures TMT (thermo mechanical treatment) steel bar 60 grade with the latest international technology.
Through using TMT technology low manganese steel bars are produced with all the desirable properties of high strength steels. Use of TMT for High Strength Reinforcement Steel significantly scales down steel consumption. Hence the construction industry will have breakthrough to reduce their project cost.
Sufi Mizan said the four flat steel manufacturing companies have taken up a joint venture to set up an HR Coil manufacturing plant in Chittagong. They have named it "KAPS" after the first name of the companies: KDS Group, ABC Steels, PHP Group and S. Alam Group.
"It will help us get HR Coils locally and save huge foreign currency. This will be the single largest private investment with approximately Tk 25,000 million of local entrepreneurs of the country," he stated.
The main raw material required for the production of flat steel (CR Coil, GP Coil, GP Sheet, CI Sheet etc) is the Hot Rolled (HR) Coil. CR strip is Hot Rolled steel strip in coil form. The country at present does not have any plant to produce HR Coils and the country's entire requirement of Hot Rolled strip including requirement for general-purpose industry is met through import from Japan, Korea, China, Russia and India, he said.
Mizanur Rahman has said along with four other Bangladeshi business conglomerates he has entered into a definitive agreement with Retail Holdings N.V. on 4 November 2010 to acquire majority stake of its subsidiary Singer Bangladesh Limited.
PHP will hold 20% stake of Singer Bangladesh. Closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including obtaining government approvals.
He said Singer Bangladesh had revenues of $63.4 million and net income of $5.7 million in 2009. Singer Bangladesh revenues in 2010 are projected to be somewhat higher than that of the previous year while net earnings will be substantially greater.
PHP Group is extremely pleased by the opportunity to involve in the stake-holding of Singer Bangladesh with a distinguished group of Bangladesh investors. He anticipated that with the company's excellent management continuing in place, revenue and profit growth at Singer Bangladesh will accelerate, building on the strong performance over the past.
Being a conglomerate business house with 18 units the Group has been playing a distinct role in each sector and significant contribution to the national economy. Out of its total business units five business units are in the Steel sector, three units are in Textile sector, one unit each in Glass and Ceramics sector while another is Information Technology Education sector.
Besides, the Group is also involved in stock brokerage business, and has its involvement in the shareholding of some Banks, Insurance and Financial institutions. A short summary of the Group business are delineated below:
Steel Sector: PHP Group is the pioneer in flat steel in Bangladesh and has the largest Cold Rolled steel manufacturing company of the country. The Group companies are leaders in galvanized steel sheet of the state-of-the-art technology fulfilling its customers' requirements through world class services and products. The group has good forward and backward integration of different steel business under its sister concerns.
Bitumen Sector: Bay Terminal & Distribution Co Ltd, a sister concern of the PHP Group, offers bitumen of 80/100 pen, 60/70 pen and other grades on request, which it imports from internationally reputed refineries of Singapore, Thailand, India and the Gulf. Currently it meets 60% of bitumen demand of the country and is the market leader in the sector.
Textile Sector: PHP Group has acquired three textile mills namely, Ibrahim Cotton Mills Ltd, Sekandar Spinning Mills Ltd and MRF Rotor Spinning Mills Ltd. The above mills are engaged in knit yarn production with annual capacity of 6,835,000 kgs by their 34,080 spindles. The capacity is continuously growing as per demand of the market.
Glass Sector: The PHP new Float glass complex has been set up at Chittagong-Dhaka highway with annual production capacity of 54,000 MT (approximately 4.0 million square meters at an average thickness of 4mm) in the name of PHP Float Glass Industries Ltd. This is the first float glass manufacturing company in the country.
Rubber Sector: The Group took up a rubber plantation project in 1980 at Baisari of Cox'sBazar. The rubber plantation has spread over 1100 acres of land and producing 300 MT of rubber every year in form of natural rubber sheets made from the latex collected from rubber trees. This is considered as the largest rubber plantation project in the country. Recently the group started exporting its rubber product under the company PHP Latex and Rubber Products Ltd.
Agro-based Industrial Sector: Keeping in mind the prospect of agro industry in a country like Bangladesh the Group acquired 100 acres of land in Thakurgaon, Dinajpur. The land is being used temporarily to produce potato, pumpkin etc. Besides, the Group has taken lease of 400 acres of land from Setabgonj Sugar Mills Ltd for producing various agro-products.
Education & Service Sector: Influence of Information Technology on our economy is enormous. Keeping an eye on the IT Education the Group established University of Information, Technology and Sciences Ltd known as UITS. Within a short span of time the University has earned fame for imparting IT education to the students.
Considering the human health the Group established the 30-bed Mount Hospital, where the group employees are enjoying free medical treatment. The hospital is also providing quality treatment to the general patients.
Moreover, the Group has established another 20-bed hospital, namely Daimuddin Hospital at Narayanganj with modern equipment and treatment facilities for the poor people.
In the span of last six months it has owned a state-of-the-art plant to produce low manganese steel bar of high strength reinforcement steel that scales down steel consumption.
Another giant leap is its initiative to set up an HR Coil manufacturing plant in Chittagong, in association with three other major industrial groups such as KDS Group, ABC Steel and S. Alam Group.
The HR Coil manufacturing industry will be the country's first ever HR Coil producing plant, and the single largest private investment in the country.
Stake holding of Singer Bangladesh Ltd is another important feather in the caps of PHP Group, which has acquired a majority stake of Singer Bangladesh, a subsidiary of Retail Holding NV.
The Group is moving forward at such a definitive pace with new plants coming under the PHP fold one after another that some informed circles now would like to label it as the future "Reliance" of Bangladesh.
PHP Group chairman Alhaj Md Sufi Mizanur Rahman, however, said he has a vision to become "Tata of Bangladesh" by the year 2020.
In an interview with the FE he said he loves to think great and in a somewhat different way from other industrialists.
"I've prepared myself to become an industrialist for a long time. No matter how long I will live. But I have built up my seven sons who will steer the PHP Group to make it "Banglar Tata," he said.
"TATA of India is the world leader in steel product manufacture. PHP aims to set up such an industry to produce almost all industrial finished products from iron ore," he said.
He said that the PHP Group has acquired AMK Steels Ltd, a modern steel plant that manufactures TMT (thermo mechanical treatment) steel bar 60 grade with the latest international technology.
Through using TMT technology low manganese steel bars are produced with all the desirable properties of high strength steels. Use of TMT for High Strength Reinforcement Steel significantly scales down steel consumption. Hence the construction industry will have breakthrough to reduce their project cost.
Sufi Mizan said the four flat steel manufacturing companies have taken up a joint venture to set up an HR Coil manufacturing plant in Chittagong. They have named it "KAPS" after the first name of the companies: KDS Group, ABC Steels, PHP Group and S. Alam Group.
"It will help us get HR Coils locally and save huge foreign currency. This will be the single largest private investment with approximately Tk 25,000 million of local entrepreneurs of the country," he stated.
The main raw material required for the production of flat steel (CR Coil, GP Coil, GP Sheet, CI Sheet etc) is the Hot Rolled (HR) Coil. CR strip is Hot Rolled steel strip in coil form. The country at present does not have any plant to produce HR Coils and the country's entire requirement of Hot Rolled strip including requirement for general-purpose industry is met through import from Japan, Korea, China, Russia and India, he said.
Mizanur Rahman has said along with four other Bangladeshi business conglomerates he has entered into a definitive agreement with Retail Holdings N.V. on 4 November 2010 to acquire majority stake of its subsidiary Singer Bangladesh Limited.
PHP will hold 20% stake of Singer Bangladesh. Closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including obtaining government approvals.
He said Singer Bangladesh had revenues of $63.4 million and net income of $5.7 million in 2009. Singer Bangladesh revenues in 2010 are projected to be somewhat higher than that of the previous year while net earnings will be substantially greater.
PHP Group is extremely pleased by the opportunity to involve in the stake-holding of Singer Bangladesh with a distinguished group of Bangladesh investors. He anticipated that with the company's excellent management continuing in place, revenue and profit growth at Singer Bangladesh will accelerate, building on the strong performance over the past.
Being a conglomerate business house with 18 units the Group has been playing a distinct role in each sector and significant contribution to the national economy. Out of its total business units five business units are in the Steel sector, three units are in Textile sector, one unit each in Glass and Ceramics sector while another is Information Technology Education sector.
Besides, the Group is also involved in stock brokerage business, and has its involvement in the shareholding of some Banks, Insurance and Financial institutions. A short summary of the Group business are delineated below:
Steel Sector: PHP Group is the pioneer in flat steel in Bangladesh and has the largest Cold Rolled steel manufacturing company of the country. The Group companies are leaders in galvanized steel sheet of the state-of-the-art technology fulfilling its customers' requirements through world class services and products. The group has good forward and backward integration of different steel business under its sister concerns.
Bitumen Sector: Bay Terminal & Distribution Co Ltd, a sister concern of the PHP Group, offers bitumen of 80/100 pen, 60/70 pen and other grades on request, which it imports from internationally reputed refineries of Singapore, Thailand, India and the Gulf. Currently it meets 60% of bitumen demand of the country and is the market leader in the sector.
Textile Sector: PHP Group has acquired three textile mills namely, Ibrahim Cotton Mills Ltd, Sekandar Spinning Mills Ltd and MRF Rotor Spinning Mills Ltd. The above mills are engaged in knit yarn production with annual capacity of 6,835,000 kgs by their 34,080 spindles. The capacity is continuously growing as per demand of the market.
Glass Sector: The PHP new Float glass complex has been set up at Chittagong-Dhaka highway with annual production capacity of 54,000 MT (approximately 4.0 million square meters at an average thickness of 4mm) in the name of PHP Float Glass Industries Ltd. This is the first float glass manufacturing company in the country.
Rubber Sector: The Group took up a rubber plantation project in 1980 at Baisari of Cox'sBazar. The rubber plantation has spread over 1100 acres of land and producing 300 MT of rubber every year in form of natural rubber sheets made from the latex collected from rubber trees. This is considered as the largest rubber plantation project in the country. Recently the group started exporting its rubber product under the company PHP Latex and Rubber Products Ltd.
Agro-based Industrial Sector: Keeping in mind the prospect of agro industry in a country like Bangladesh the Group acquired 100 acres of land in Thakurgaon, Dinajpur. The land is being used temporarily to produce potato, pumpkin etc. Besides, the Group has taken lease of 400 acres of land from Setabgonj Sugar Mills Ltd for producing various agro-products.
Education & Service Sector: Influence of Information Technology on our economy is enormous. Keeping an eye on the IT Education the Group established University of Information, Technology and Sciences Ltd known as UITS. Within a short span of time the University has earned fame for imparting IT education to the students.
Considering the human health the Group established the 30-bed Mount Hospital, where the group employees are enjoying free medical treatment. The hospital is also providing quality treatment to the general patients.
Moreover, the Group has established another 20-bed hospital, namely Daimuddin Hospital at Narayanganj with modern equipment and treatment facilities for the poor people.