Home ›› 05 Oct 2022 ›› Stock
Emerald Oil Industries Limited, which remained inoperative for more than five years, is now eying to expand its footprint in the global market after Japanese firm Minori Bangladesh invested in it just a few months ago.
The rice bran edible oil manufacturer also announced the opening of a new branch in Japan to incept its export operations only after three months the company resumed its productions.
In a filing posted on the website of the Dhaka stock exchange (DSE) Tuesday, the company revealed that it had established a new branch in Tokyo, Japan on September 20 this year.
Emerald Oil Industries Managing Director, Afzal Hossain, who is also a director of Minori Bangladesh, told The Business Post, “Our main entrepreneurial organisation is in Japan. Therefore branch offices are being opened there to facilitate both business operations and exports.”
Emerald Oil Industries Ltd, a publicly traded company, resumed production and sales operations on June 28 this year after the investment was injected from the Japanese firm Minori Bangladesh.
The company has not released any financial reports since 2016.
“We are working on preparing and publishing the recent financial report. I hope it will get released soon,” said Afzal Hossain.
The company has a capacity of manufacturing 48 tonnes of rice bran oil and 282 tonnes of de-oiled rice bran per year, according to this official.
Incorporated in 2008, Emerald Oil Industries Ltd, went into the production of rice bran oil under the brand name Spondon back in 2011
The company, however, halted production in 2017 due to the working capital crunch, after its founders fled the country following a loan scam and subsequent imprisonments in a case filed for that forgery.
In March 2021, the stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) restructured the board of the company by appointing five independent directors on its board in a bid to bring the non-functioning company back to business and protect the interest of its investors.
The company later announced that Minori Bangladesh purchased an 8 per cent stake in Emerald Oil at Tk 50 crore.
In July 2021, the company had informed that it would go into full commercial production from September 1 that year.
The company, however, had failed to start production at that time due to the strict lockdown measures amid the spread of the coronavirus in the country, as it could not renew or obtain most of the licenses required because of the closures of government offices from July 23 to August 10 last year.
Listed in 2014, the company had raised Tk 20 crore through IPO from the capital market.
Its stocks are being traded under the ‘Z’ category since 2018 as its operations remained suspended and for the announcement of no dividends.
In FY16, Emerald Oil generated a profit of Tk 18.02 crore and paid a 10 per cent stock dividend to its shareholders.
The share price of the company dropped 0.54 per cent to Tk 36.8 on the DSE trading floor on Monday.
Until August 2022, out of its total shares, the sponsors and directors hold 38.26 per cent stake, while institutional investors and the general public owned 7.07 per cent and 54.67 per cent stakes respectively.
The oil manufacturer has a market capitalisation base of Tk 221 crore, while it’s paid-up capital base stands at Tk 60 crore.
