Jamuna Oil Company's profit jumped almost 30 per cent year-on-year to Tk 4.42 billion in FY24, as income from bank deposits escalated amid rising interest rates.
The state-run oil distributor's earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 40 for FY24, increased from Tk 30.87 the year before, according to a stock exchange filing on Monday.
The profit rose on the back of a substantial surge in non-operating income from bank deposits, the company said in its earnings note.
Based on the profit growth, the board declared a 150 per cent cash dividend for the year, the highest since listing on the stock exchanges in 2007, meaning the investor will get Tk 15 per share against an income of Tk 40 each share for the year.
Currently, the company's total number of shares is 110.42 million. That means Jamuna Oil will distribute Tk 1.65 billion in cash dividend to its shareholders for the year.
The company's profits outside its core business had stayed high because it had not distributed enough cash dividends.
Interest rate has been in an upward momentum since the government removed the ceiling on lending rate in July last year. The rate further rose when the government stopped controlling it and left it to the market in May this year.
This is not a new trend perceived only in FY24. The state-owned companies heavily rely upon income generated beyond their business operations to maintain a profit growth for the past few years.
Despite the record profit, the stock of Jamuna Oil dropped 0.73 per cent to close at Tk 190.1 per share on Monday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The company set an annual general meeting on February 8 next year and the record date for entitlement of dividends is December 24 this year.
Its first quarter profit also soared 48 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1.24 billion in July-September this year due to an increase in interest income.
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