Linde Bangladesh has declared a 400 per cent final cash dividend for 2024, taking the total return on investments to 4,500 per cent for the year.
This is the highest-ever annual cash dividend declared by any company in Bangladesh's stock market, said market operators.
The multinational company has already paid 4,100 per cent interim cash dividends for January-July last year, riding on money earned from the sale of its subsidiary.
It earned Tk 7.72 billion by selling Linde Industries Pvt Ltd last year.
It had a gross income of Tk 9.10 billion from the sale of its welding business, from which it deducted the investment amount of Tk 1.38 billion.
Linde sold its welding electrode business to an American-Swedish industrial company ESAB Group and subsequently transferred 138.2 million shares at approximately Tk 65.80 each.
Linde shareholders will get Tk 450 against each share for 2024, including Tk 410 interim cash dividend already paid, while its EPS was Tk 421.94 in 2024, including the extraordinary income.
However, EPS of its core business was Tk 24.92 in 2024, up from Tk 15.02 the year before.
At present, Linde's total number of shares is 15.218 million.
Linde will disburse Tk 608 million in final cash dividends against income of nearly Tk 379 million, meaning the company will provide an additional Tk 229 million from its retained earnings.
The company's sponsor-directors would get most of the dividend amount as they jointly hold a 60 per cent stake in Linde, as of February this year.
It will hold an annual general meeting (AGM) on May 29 while the record date is April 9.
The net operating cash flow per share, a measure of a company's ability to generate cash from its operations, stood at Tk 24.2 for 2024, down from Tk 36.33 the year before.
The net asset value, which refers to the excess of total assets over total liabilities, dropped to Tk 229.34 per share in 2024 from Tk 371.27 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the stock fell 3.01 per cent to Tk 1041.6 per share on Thursday.
Why did Linde sell hard business?
Linde sold its welding electrode business as it stumbled upon extreme volatility in recent times amid higher input costs due to fluctuations in international raw material prices, said an official of the company, requesting not to be named.
The business unit used to generate more than half of the revenue until 2022. It faced tough competition from both domestic and Chinese players. The country has also witnessed a severe headwind in shipbuilding, infrastructure and real estate projects, which resulted in subdued demand for welding electrodes.
Linde did good business in 2021, particularly in the medical segment, as the need for medical oxygen shot up for Covid patients dealing with breathing distress in hospitals.
As the pandemic waned and raw material prices skyrocketed due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, revenue from the segment kept falling.
Subsequently, Linde saw a six-year low profit of Tk 883 million in 2022. The shrinking profit compelled the company to cut down annual cash dividends to 420 per cent for 2022 from 550 per cent paid for 2021.
The decline in profit continued in 2023, leading to a 40 per cent less income year-on-year to Tk 525.68 million in 2023.
A member of Linde, a global leader in industrial gases, Linde Bangladesh has been operating for over 70 years in Bangladesh, serving sectors from healthcare to manufacturing through its extensive production facilities and market presence.
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