Appollo Ispat sinks with Tk1,100cr debts

Apollo Steel Complex Limited, which once produced the widely popular ‘Rani Marka Dheutin’ (iron sheet), is now encumbered with huge debts, as the publicly traded firm has been out of production for years.

 The company through the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) said on Thursday that currently its total debt stands at Tk 1100 crore, with approximately Tk 900 crore in loans (including penal interest) and Tk 200 crore worth other liabilities.

The listed company, however, did not give details about its loans and other liabilities.

The company has not given any financial updates since FY18 and its production remains shut since late FY19.

As on mid-2018, the company’s long-term loans were Tk 70.61 crore, while short term-loans were over Tk 235 crore.

Appollo Ispat Complex began commercial production of corrugated steel in 1997 and its ‘Rani Marka Dheutin’ ascended to a top position in the local market.

It had been generating nearly Tk 500 crore in annual revenue before going public.

The company went public in 2013 to raise Tk220 crore from investors, mainly to repay bank loans of Tk 153 crore, while Tk 60 crore was spent for project development and the rest was spent on IPO expenses.

The company that time had announced it would install an environment friendly German technology-based non-oxidising furnace unit for manufacturing lead-free corrugated iron sheet. The new project was expected to come into commercial production in mid-2014.

But due to a high debt burden, some capital market investors opposed its listing and even the then finance minister wrote to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) not to approve Appollo Ispat Complex’s initial public offer.

However, the BSEC let the company enter the bourses and the company proved that the skeptics were right.

Any listed firm is transferred to Z category if the company fails to declare cash dividend for two years in a row from the date of declaration of the last dividend, as per the order.

The company is currently trading in the Z category due to non-compliance with securities laws including non-disclosure of financial reports.

In November 2021, Phoenix Finance and Investments Ltd had initiated a move to auction Appollo Ispat’s mortgaged assets in Gazipur to recover default loans.