Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) saw its profit plunge by 96 per cent year-on-year to nearly Tk 12 million in 2025, as operational disruptions and a challenging business climate weighed heavily on performance.
The sharp earnings decline underscores a difficult year, with the company slipping into losses in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2025.
Financial disclosures show that Bata began incurring losses from the April-June quarter. Over the April-December period, it posted a cumulative loss of Tk 356 million.
However, a strong first quarter-when the company earned Tk 368 million-helped it narrowly stay in the green for the full year, ending with a modest net profit.
The company said several retail outlets were vandalized during the year, significantly disrupting operations and hurting financial results.
In April 2025, a number of Bata stores were vandalized and looted during pro-Palestine protests, reportedly triggered by misinformation that the brand was an Israeli company.
The affected outlets were located in Sylhet, Bogura, and Cox's Bazar.
Bata later clarified that it is a Czech-founded company with no political links to the conflict. Despite the earnings slump, the board of the company recommended a 105 per cent final cash dividend, in addition to a 143 per cent interim dividend already paid earlier in the year, bringing the total payout to 248 per cent for 2025. This is lower than the 445 per cent cash dividend distributed in 2024.
The company has scheduled its annual general meeting for June 30, with the record date set for May 19, to approve the audited financial statements and dividend.
The multinational footwear maker had earlier faced a major setback in 2020-its first annual loss in over six decades in Bangladesh-due to nationwide lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continued waves of infections in 2021 further dented sales, particularly as the key Eid seasons-accounting for more than one-third of annual revenue-were disrupted.
With restrictions lifted in 2022 and 2023, the company returned to normal operations, including peak festive sales periods, before encountering fresh challenges in 2025.
Meanwhile, Bata shares fell 2 per cent to close at Tk 818.70 each on Tuesday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
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