GPH Ispat Ltd. posted a profit of nearly Tk 66 million in the first quarter (Q1) of FY25, bouncing back from losses in the same period last year, driven by higher sales and a significant reduction in foreign currency losses.
The Chittagong-based manufacturer incurred a loss of Tk 164 million in the same quarter last year.
The company's earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 0.14, as against loss of Tk 0.34 per share the previous year, according to its quarterly financial statements published on Thursday.
The profit surge was accompanied by a 5.5 per cent jump in revenue to Tk 11.36 billion while finance costs declined by 12 per cent to Tk 1.07 billion, largely due to lower impact from devaluation against foreign currencies.
The reduction in finance costs was primarily due to favourable movement of foreign currency transactions, as foreign currency liabilities were recorded at higher market rates but settled at lower rates.
Eventually, foreign currency conversion losses dropped significantly by 82.5 per cent to Tk 44 million in the September quarter from Tk 253 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Besides, the company's finance income jumped 55 per cent year-on-year to Tk 55.8 million amid higher interest income although interest payment on bank loans went up by 7.23 per cent to Tk 1.02 billion during the quarter.
The interest income jumped as the company's short-term investment reached Tk 3.15 billion as of September from Tk 2.66 billion in June this year.
The company's long-term and short-term debt burden reached Tk 24.24 billion and Tk 31.87 billion respectively as of September this year.
The net operating cash flow per share, a measure of a company's ability to generate cash from its operations, stood at negative Tk 1.82 per share this quarter as against positive Tk 0.18 in the same quarter last year.
The company explained that payments to suppliers and other expenses exceeded collections from sales, resulting in a negative net operating cash flow per share during the quarter.
The net asset value with revaluation, which refers to the excess of total assets over total liabilities, stood at Tk 52.65 per share as of September this year, up from Tk 52.43 in June 2024.
Its share price gained 1.22 per cent to close at Tk 24.7 on Thursday.
ANNUAL FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
In FY'24, GPH Ispat's annual profit jumped 220 per cent to Tk 856.4 million, due to the substantial reduction in foreign currency losses.
Based on the higher profit, the board declared a 10 per cent cash dividend for FY24, as against 5 per cent cash in the previous year.
In June 2021, GPH Ispat started commercial production at its new plant, which was built using quantum technology -- the first in Asia and the second in the world -- at a cost of Tk 25 billion.
In August this year, the company board decided to raise Tk 2.42 billion through issuing rights shares to install a new furnace with the company's newly expanded plant, which will enhance the production capacity.
The company decided to issue one right share for every 3 existing shares at Tk 15 each, including Tk 5 as a premium, subject to approval by the regulatory authorities.
babulfexpress@gmail.com