Sonali Bank puts Alltex Industries assets on auction

Sonali Bank has decided to sell the mortgaged assets of Alltex Industries through an auction to recover the outstanding loans of the listed textile manufacturer. 

Alltex Industries owes Sonali Bank approximately Tk380.77 crore as of 31 March 2022, the state-run bank said  in a notice on Thursday.

To recover the funds, the bank plans to auction 14.7 acres of Alltex's land, its manufacturing facilities and offices, raw materials, and spare parts, all of which were mortgaged for the loan. 

Interested buyers have been asked to submit their bids by 2 January 2025.

Meanwhile, on 24 October 2024, the securities regulator formed a three-member committee to investigate the financials and overall business situation of Alltex Industries. The committee will submit a report to the commission within 60 days.

As of Thursday, the share price of the company closed at Tk10 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. 

According to the qualified opinion of the auditor, the company did not charge interest on its loan from Sonali Bank for the year 2023-2024. 

The loan sanction letter specifies an interest rate of 10%, which, if charged, would amount to approximately Tk26 crore. The failure to charge this interest resulted in an overstatement of the company's profit before tax.

The company's auditor issued the qualified opinion in their report, highlighting material discrepancies in the financial statements. 

The auditor noted that while the company's books showed a loan balance of Tk228 crore owed to Sonali Bank, the bank's records indicated the amount was Tk261 crore.

In the July to September quarter of the current fiscal year, Alltex Industries reported revenue of Tk7.80 crore, a decrease from Tk8.46 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year. 

In the first quarter, its net loss stood at Tk5.61 lakh, compared to a net loss of Tk1.23 crore a year ago. The per-share loss for the company stood at Tk0.01, and its net asset value per share was Tk0.22 as of the end of September 2024.

As of 30 November 2024, the sponsors and directors jointly hold 40.42% of the company's shares, while institutional investors hold 7.95%, and general investors hold 51.63%.