SAPL Q3 earnings up 161%

Summit Alliance Port Limited (SAPL)’s consolidated earnings per share witnessed a rise of 161 per cent in the third quarter of FY22 thanks to the soaring volume of containers handled through the seaports.

The off-doc service provider’s EPS stood at Tk 0.47 in the January-March (Q3) of FY22, up from Tk 0.14 in the same period last year.

The company’s EPS jumped as the container handling through the seaports increased during the period, according to SAPL Company Secretary Abdullah Osman Sajid

“The global economic downturn has had an impact on every business. However, taka devaluation against the dollar has had little effect on SAPL’s income since the majority of current income is derived from earlier orders. Yet, the company may face an impact on the revenue received in the following three to four months,” he said.

EBL Securities says, "The current global geopolitical crisis and macroeconomic vulnerability may negatively impact the performance of the company by decreasing the volume of import-export cargo handling."

The soaring dollar prices may affect the top line growth and profitability of the company in the coming periods. Moreover, the recent surge in fuel prices may also affect the country's balance of trade, which could be a demerit for the company, it added.

SAPL made its stock market debut in 2008. On Sunday, its share remained unchanged at Tk 29.60 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The company recently started handling break-bulk raw cotton from India at its Muktarpur terminal, ‍according to a statement from the company.

"It is not our concern whether the imports are increasing because the demand in the country is high. Rather, we receive orders and we deliver them. Besides, a large quantity of fly ash is imported from India through SAPL,” Sajid said.

The estimated revenue growth rate for FY22 is 9.2 per cent, hence it can be expected that revenue might have experienced nearly double-digit growth primarily riding on the growing export cargo handling in FY 22, according to EBL Securities.

The company's profits have soared by 180 per cent in the last three years. The company's profit after tax in FY22 was Tk 11.40 crore. Whereas the profit was in FY20 was Tk 4.07 crore.

Summit Alliance Port provides off-dock services through its depots at Chattogram and River Terminal at Muktarpur. The Company principal activities of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) with facilities for Empty Container Storage and Container Freight Station (CFS) in handling both import and export cargo.