Singer Bangladesh to set up manufacturing plant at SEZ

Singer Bangladesh Limited, the country’s centenary-old home appliance manufacturer, will set up a manufacturing plant at Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) in Narayanganj’s Rupganj.

To this end, the company signed an agreement with the BSEZ on taking out a lease of 35 acres of land to establish the new manufacturing facility, said the company in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday.

BSEZ is the first special economic zone developed by a Japanese company. It was established jointly in partnership with the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority.

On March 31 this year, Singer Bangladesh announced that it will invest Tk 680 crore in a new facility to boost its manufacturing capacity. The board approved the budget for establishing the new manufacturing facility to increase its manufacturing capacity, it said.

“The investment will be financed from internal sources and bank financing both foreign and local borrowing. The proposed manufacturing facilities would cater to the increasing local demand with a competitive price and would also contribute to the company’s growth,” it said.

Turkey-based Arçelik’s subsidiary Retail Holdings BV controls 57 percent of the shares of Singer Bangladesh, a household name for home appliances in Bangladesh.

On Thursday, its shares declined marginally to Tk 167 from Tk 168.5 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Its operating profit declined 20 per cent year-on-year to Tk 130 crore in 2021—the year hit by the pandemic. Net profit dipped 35 per cent to Tk 51.8 crore in 2021 from the previous year’s Tk 80 crore, according to its latest annual report.

The electronics and home appliance retailer reported Tk 1,581 crore in sales, up from Tk 1,495 crore during the period. “Sales opportunities were lost due to the coronavirus pandemic at the start of the second quarter last year,” it said.

“There were, effectively, no sales for 73 days in 2021 as the country-wide lockdowns declared by the government from time to time. Consequently, we missed the seasonal sales of summer, Eid-ul-Fitr, and Eid-ul-Azha,” said Singer in the report.

Listed in 1993, Singer Bangladesh is the largest retailer of consumer durables, with 385 stores and 720 wholesale dealers in the country.

In 2021, Singer Bangladesh opened manufacturing washing machines at its Savar plant with a capacity of producing 420,000 units per year.