PTL to invest Tk 1,300cr in renewable energy

Paramount Textile Limited (PTL) says it will invest Tk 1,300 crore in renewable energy to set up a solar power plant with a generation capacity of 100MW.

The board made the new investment decision, the company said in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

As part of the investment, it will acquire a 49 per cent stake in Dynamic Sun Energy Private, said the company, a subsidiary of Paramount Group.

The solar PV grid-connected electricity generation plant will be set up in Pabna, it said.

“The company will sign an agreement soon,” PTL Company Secretary Robiul Islam told The Business Post.

“The new project will significantly help boost our earnings,” said the Business post the company secretary.

Dynamic Sun Energy Private has an agreement with the Power Development Board on a “no electricity no payment basis” for up to 20 years at $0.1195 per kilowatt-hour.

In the last two years, every business faced a hard time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said PTL Managing Director Shakhawat Hossain in its latest annual report.

“We are confident to overcome the challenges by the combination of our commitment, portfolio diversification, new investment in BMRE, and so on,” he said.

On Tuesday, PTL share fell 1.98 per cent to Tk 79.4 on the DSE.

The company’s investment in the power plant is not new as it earlier invested in the power sector.

In November 2020, it acquired an 80 percent stakes in Intraco Solar Power Limited (ISPL), a Bangladesh-based renewable energy firm owned by the Intraco Group of Industries.

Intraco Solar was supplying 30 megawatts of electricity to the national grid since 2018 from its plant in Rangpur’s Gangachhara.

It also invested in a 200MW heavy-speed diesel-based power plant at Baghabari in Sirajganj.

The company’s earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 1.52 in the second quarter (October-December) 2021, an increase of 60 per cent from Tk 0.95 in the same period a year ago.

In fiscal 2020-21, the company’s profit stood at Tk 66 crore in profit, up from Tk 65 crore seen in the previous session. During the period, the EPS was Tk 4.27, up from Tk 4.25.

It declared 20 per cent for June, 2021.