Bangladesh Lamps suffers loss due to Covid-19, then bounces back

Highlight:

• Big loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Bangladesh Lamps
• Not adding dividend income from the investments is another reason for losses
• The company lost Tk9.88 per share

Electric bulb manufacturing company, Bangladesh Lamps Limited, has lost Tk9.88 per share in the 2019-2020 fiscal year as the company has suffered losses due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

After posting losses in that fiscal year, the Bangladesh Lamps' profit increased in the first quarter of FY2020-2021, which has resulted in a 25.21% hike in its share price (i.e. by Tk30.6) to reach Tk152 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Tuesday.

The company's earnings per share or EPS was Tk1.18 in July-September period of this fiscal year.

The Bangladesh Lamps published its financial report for the FY2019-2020 on Tuesday. It also provided reasons for the huge drop in its EPS as the primary regulator of the capital market DSE sought an explanation.

Bangladesh Lamps Company Secretary, Mohammad Ruhan Mia, told the Business Standard, "There are some investments of our company in several places. Dividend income from those investments could not be added to our profit due to the Covid-19. This augmented the amount of loss in that fiscal year."

"Adding the dividend income to the profit would have reduced the company's loss by 20%," said Mohammad Ruhan Mia.

Regarding the increase in profit in this fiscal year, he said, "However, our profit increased as we got the dividend income in the first quarter of this fiscal year and overcame the coronavirus crisis to some extent."

Bangladesh Lamps' financial report

The company lost Tk9.25 crore in FY2019-2020. Its net asset value (NAV) stands at Tk59.98.

The Bangladesh Lamps has announced a 10% cash dividend for its shareholders at the end of the fiscal year.

The company's annual general meeting will be held on 15 December, and 12 November has been fixed as its record date.

In the first quarter of FY2020-2021, the company's EPS was Tk1.18 and NAV was Tk77.13, while during the same period in FY2019-2020, it lost TK1.48 per share and its NAV was Tk84.62.

In FY2018-2019, the company made a profit of Tk2.93 crore, while its EPS was Tk3.1 and NAV was Tk92.34.

Bangladesh Lamps announced a 20% cash dividend for its shareholders at the end of FY2018-2019.

Explaining the reasons for its losses, the company said they could not reach the forecasted revenue due to the spread of Covid-19. They suffered losses because of the operational cost, payrolls, rents, depreciation, and other expenditures during the period. 

The company also said its NAV decreased as the market value of investments in shares decreased.

Bangladesh Lamps Limited has an exclusive licensing agreement with Philips Electronics NV Holland, under which it manufactures Philips lighting products. It also manufactures electric bulbs, CFL, tube lights and other lighting products under the Transtec Brand in its production facility in Dhaka and markets them through its nationwide distribution network.

Bangladesh Lamps Limited was incorporated in 1960 as a subsidiary of Philips, Holland. In March 1993, Philips sold all its shares to Transcom. The company was listed in the share market in 1981.

Of around 93.70 lakh shares of Bangladesh Lamps, the company sponsors and directors own 61.88%, while institutional investors own 16.03% and general investors own 22.06% of the shares.