BBS Cables to supply cables to Bangabandhu Tunnel

BBS Cables has signed an agreement with China Communications Construction Company Ltd on supplying cables to the country’s first underwater expressway tunnel--Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel.

Under the agreement, the cables worth over Tk 47 crore will be delivered within 90 days from the date of signing, said the company in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

“The agreement will have a positive impact on the company’s revenue in the next quarter,” BBS Cables Company Secretary Golam Habib told The Business Post.

On Tuesday, its share price rose 3.65 per cent to Tk 56.80 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. 

BBS Cables’ third quarter (January-March) net profit stood at Tk 114 crore, 12 per cent down from Tk 130 crore a year earlier.

“The price of raw materials in the international market was skyrocketing, which had an impact on the company’s income,” said Habib.

The price of raw material, which was $600 per tonnes in 2019, reached $1,100 per tonnes in 2022, according to him.

The company’s lion’s share of income comes from the sales to the government projects. Its revenue declined in fiscal FY2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic when all the project activities were halted.

BBS Cables paid 10% cash and 5% stock dividends to its shareholders for fiscal 2020-21. As of April 30, the sponsors and directors jointly held 30.98%, institutions 21.18%, foreign investors 0.42%, and general investors 47.42% shares of BBS Cables.

In 2019, China Communications Construction Company began to construct the 3.4km twin-bore Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in the port city of Chittagong.