Unique Hotel and Resorts PLC, owner of The Westin Dhaka, has decided to invest Tk 12.5 crore to set up a digital bank.
The country’s leading hotel and hospitality management company, at its 167th Board meeting held Thursday, agreed in principle to enter into a shareholders agreement and subscribe 10 per cent shares as sponsor shareholders in a proposed digital bank “AMAR Digi Bank PLC.”
This is subject to regulatory approval from authorities concerned.
The proposed digital bank’s authorised share capital is Tk 250 crore and its paid up share capital is Tk 125 crore, where Unique Hotel & Resorts PLC will invest an amount of Tk 12.5 crore divided into 1,250,00,000 ordinary shares priced Tk 10 each, along with other sponsors.
The Bangladesh Bank invited proposals to form digital banks on June 21. The deadline was initially set for August 1 this year, but later it was extended to August 17 to give entrepreneurs more time to prepare detailed applications with all the necessary documents.
As per the guidelines, a digital bank will have a minimum paid-up capital of Tk 125 crore. The capital will come from sponsors.
Unique Hotel and Resorts posted an excellent surge in its profits in the first nine months (Jul’22-Mar’23) of the fiscal year 2022-23.
The country’s leading hotel and hospitality Management Company reported Tk 163.6 crore in net profit in the July-March period of the current fiscal, which was nearly 70 per cent higher than the profit of Tk 96.2 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The listed company’s earnings per share (EPS) surged to Tk 5.56 at the end of the first three quarters, from Tk 3.27 at the end of the corresponding period last fiscal. Meanwhile, its EPS for the January-March quarter of FY23 was Tk 4.04, up from Tk 3 for the same quarter last year.
The company’s earnings increased due mainly to its gains from the sale of ordinary shares in the subsidiary company – Unique Meghnaghat Power Ltd, the listed company said in its latest financial statement.
The hotel and hospitality management company reported a net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 89.03 as of March 31 last year, compared to Tk 84.91 as of June 30 of 2022.
Unique Hotel and Resorts paid a 15 per cent cash dividend to its general shareholders for the year ended in June 2022, up from 10 per cent given for the previous fiscal year.
Incorporated in 2000, Unique Hotel and Resorts received approval to operate business under the brand name “The Westin Dhaka” in 2007. The company also owns the five-star Sheraton hotel in the capital’s Banani, and the HANSA in Uttara.
