Monno Group halts operations amid Covid-19 crisis

Monno Group has shut down all business operations and productions for an indefinite period in the wake of the increasing number of Covid-19 positive cases in the country.

The well-known business conglomerate of the country has businesses in readymade garment, ceramics, and industrial machinery supply industries.

Among the ventures, Monno Ceramics, Monno Jute Stafflers and Monno Fabrics are enlisted with the share market.

Stocks of Monno Ceramics and Monno Jute Stafflers are traded on the main market, while the shares of Monno Fabrics are transacted through Over the Counter (OTC).

Moynul Islam, vice chairman of Monno Jute told The Business Standard, "A general holiday is put on force across the country because of the outbreak of Covid-19. We continued productions on a limited scale to meet export orders. But due to the deterioration of the situation, we have stopped all operations."

"All of our factories have been closed since April 10 and will remain closed until further notice", he continued, the workers will get compensations as per the labour law.

Monno Ceramics

As one of the leading companies in the ceramics industry, Monno Ceramics made Tk4.90 crore profit in the first half of this financial year.

In that period, the company's earnings per share was Tk1.50.

In the last financial year, the company paid 10 per cent cash and 10 per cent stock dividends to its shareholders.

The closing price of each share of the company was Tk135.10 at Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Of the total shares of the company, 57.58 per cent are held by sponsor directors, 4.82 per cent institutional, 0.11 per cent foreign, and the remaining 37.49 per cent belongs to general investors.

Monno Jute

The amount of net profit made by the company in the first half of the current fiscal year is Tk0.64 crore.

During this period, its earnings per share was Tk2.59.

In the last financial year, it paid 20 per cent stock dividends to its shareholders.

The closing price of the company's stocks was Tk794.80 at Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Of its total shares, 42.98 per cent belongs to sponsor directors, 3.48 per cent institutional, 0.12 per cent foreign, and the remaining 53.42 per cent is held by general investors.

Monno Fabrics

The company failed to provide a dividend to its shareholders for long-term losses. Since there were no fresh investments, most of its machineries were dysfunctional. Thus, it could not go into production. 

However, the company started to pull through in the last year and also announced to start full-fledged production from this year.

In the first half of the current financial year, the total sales of the company stood at Tk37.57 crore and the net profit was Tk0.21 crore.

In the last financial year, it had a net profit of Tk0.60 crore, but did not pay any dividend to its shareholders.

Sponsor directors hold 46.79 per cent of the total shares of the company, while 15.1 per cent is institutional, 1.39 per cent foreign and the remaining 36.72 per cent belongs to general investors.