Walton Hi-Tech Industries, a leading local brand in electronics and electrical sector, saw a steep growth in its turnover for the fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 which aided a significant growth in its net profit.
Riding on increased turnover, the company's net profit soared 126 per cent or Tk 9.13 billion to stand at Tk 16.39 billion for the FY 2020-21 from Tk 7.26 billion for the previous FY.
Of the net profit, the lion's share of Tk 15.16 billion came from the sales of refrigerators and air conditioners.
For the FY 2020-21, the company has reported its sales turnover of over Tk 71.96 billion, against above Tk 42.55 billion for the FY 2019-20.
According to the annual report of the FY 2020-21, Walton saw 754.54 per cent growth in exports over the previous year.
The company's earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 54.21 for the FY 2020-21 from Tk 24.21 of the FY 2019-20.
"The extensive distribution network, advertising as well as promotional campaigns during the whole year helped the company realise creditable growth," the company said in its annual report for the FY 2020-21.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries, presently an 'A' category company, was listed in 2020 offloading 0.97 per cent shares only.
In September, 2021 the securities regulator asked the company to offload another 4.03 per cent shares within two years as the new provision of offloading at least 10 per cent shares was included in the public issue rules.
Asked, the officials of the Walton said the process of offloading sponsor-directors' shares is yet to start as they were working with the securities regulator to find out a solution to executing the regulatory order.
"The share price of Walton earlier declined following the news regarding sales of more shares by sponsor-directors. It also left a negative impact on the market due to large paid-up capital of Walton," said a senior official on anonymity.
He said the value of the company's shares which are required to offload per quarter is very large and it will leave a negative impact on the market.
"That's why, our company seeks a solution as to how the regulatory order can be executed. We are bound to comply with the directive of the securities regulator," said the official.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries, which manufacturers products of over 80 categories under six segments, managed to sustain its volume growth during the FY 2020-21 in traditional product lines.
Of the product lines, the sales of refrigerators and compressors grew by 86.47 per cent, electrical appliances by 104.86 per cent, home appliances by 72.38 per cent and television by 9.85 per cent.
The company has over 21,000 sales points under its distribution channels including Walton Plaza, Walton E-Plaza, and Exclusive Distributors across the country.
The return on shareholders' equity also rose significantly for the FY 2020-21 compared to the previous FY.
The return on the shareholders' equity ratio reached 18.80 per cent for the FY 2020-21 from 9.50 per cent reported for the FY 2019-20.
The return on shareholders' equity ratio shows how much money is returned to the owners as a percentage of the money they have invested or retained in the company.
Walton disbursed 250 per cent cash dividend for general investors and 170 per cent cash dividend for sponsor-directors for the year ended on June 30, 2021.
As per the regulatory approval, the eligible investors got 1.38 million shares of the company at the cut-off price of Tk 315 each, fixed earlier through electronic bidding while the company went public.
The general investors, including non-resident Bangladeshis, got 1.55 million IPO shares at Tk 252 each, a 20 per cent discount on cut-off price, as the company gave 10 per cent extra discount considering the interest of the capital market and small investors.
The company's sponsor-directors hold 99.03 per cent shares, institutions 0.38 per cent, foreigners 0.10 per cent and general public 0.49 per cent as of September 30, 2021.
The company's share price closed at Tk 1169.90 on Thursday with a rise of 0.57 per cent or Tk 6.60 on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
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