Fu-Wang Food offers 0.5% interim cash dividend

The board of directors of Fu Wang Food Ltd declared a 0.50 per cent interim cash dividend to its shareholders for the first half of the current fiscal year.

This is the first time the company declared any dividends in two years.

The food producer has fixed the record date as 21 March for share splits, according to a filing posted on the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Tuesday.

The listed company in the last fiscal (FY22) incurred a loss per share of Tk 2.26, which barred it from paying any dividends.

However, during the July-December period of the fiscal year 2022-23, the company’s EPS rose by 55 per cent to Tk 0.14 compared to Tk 0.09 for the same period last fiscal.

The firms’ EPS, as per its un-audited financial report, surged to Tk 0.10 for the October-December period of 2022 from Tk 0.03 for the same period in 2021.

Minori Bangladesh, a subsidiary of Japanese farming company Minori Co Ltd, last year acquired a 7.61 per cent stake in the company.

The acquisition reportedly cost Minori Tk 10 crore, of which Tk 4 crore was paid to Fu-Wang Food’s former directors, and Tk 6 crore was invested in the company to address financial anomalies regarding its inter-party transaction with its subsidiary.

Minori will also put a fresh investment of Tk 20 crore in the company for raising its production capacity further.

Incorporated in 1997, Fu-Wang Food Limited produces a wide range of confectionery items, including cakes, bread, biscuits, toast, snacks, and instant noodles.