Lovello’s online IPO lottery draw Tuesday

The initial public offering (IPO) lottery draw of Lovello Ice Cream – a brand of Taufika Foods and Agro Industries Ltd -- will be held online today to allocate its shares to general investors.

The IPO subscription of the company was held between 3 January and 7 January.

Previously on 15 October last year, the securities regulator approved the IPO proposal of Lovello Ice Cream to raise Tk30 crore from the capital market by issuing three crore shares. Each share of the company will have a face value of Tk10.

Lovello is due to use its IPO funds in business expansion and bank loan repayments.

Banco Finance and Investment Limited and Sandhani Life Finance Limited are the issue managers of the company for the IPO process.

Lovello's revenue rose by 93% to Tk92.28 crore in three consecutive years till the 2018-2019 fiscal year (FY). In FY2019-2020, the company posted 2% growth in revenue despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Lovello prospectus, the ice cream market in Bangladesh was valued at Tk1,200 crore till 2019. It is a fast-growing industry which is expanding by 12% per year.

Currently, six companies are manufacturing ice cream products. Of them, just three – Igloo, Polar and Lovello – together hold 80% of the market share. Premium ice-creams which are more expensive than those of branded ones account for nearly 15-20% of the market.

Igloo, the market leader, holds a 38% share while Polar has 20%. Lovello's market share is approximately 15%.

Taufika Foods and Agro Industries started its commercial operations on 2 January, 2016. Its paid-up capital is Tk55 crore.