Investors have to rely on Sonali Aansh Industries Limited to invest in the capital market, although three companies in the jute sector are listed on the stock market.
Only Sonali Aansh Industries out of the three companies is able to show good returns and pay dividends to its shareholders.
Market people say that the government is trying to promote the jute sector in various ways, but no new company in this sector is listed on the stock market. Besides, the financial condition of the companies which are listed on the stock market is not good at all.
So, the companies in this sector doing good business must be identified and brought to the capital market in a bid to boost the jute sector, they opine.
At present, Jute Spinners Limited, Northern Jute Manufacturing Co. Ltd and Sonali Aansh Industries Limited in the jute sector are listed on the stock market.
One of them has halted its production while the other suffered a loss in the first six months of the current fiscal year (FY2024). And only one company made a profit.
Jute Spinners Limited
The company posted a loss of Tk 11.69 per share during the first six months (July–December) of the current FY24, compared to a loss of Tk 24.21 in the same period last year.
The company had not only booked losses in the last two years but also posting losses since 2012. Still, the company’s share price has continued to rise.
That is why the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recently decided to visit the company for a review of the unusual price hike in its shares.
The debt-laden company, known as the country’s first private jute mill, started trial production in September last year to strengthen its balance sheet after acute financial hurdles forced a production halt in June 2016.
The company completed its renovation of two raw jute go-downs out of three and maintenance of its machinery. But it could not resume commercial operation yet.
From July to December 2023, the net loss of the company stood at Tk 1.98 crore, which was a Tk 4 crore loss in the period of July to December of the last fiscal year.
Northern Jute Manufacturing Co Ltd
The company stopped production since June 2023 onwards. The DSE website about the company said that a team from Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited (DSE) recently visited the factory premises of Northern Jute Manufacturing Company Limited for an inspection of their current operational status.
The team could not enter the factory. They could not carry out the inspection at the factory since the premises was fully closed, according to
the notice.
Sonali Aansh Industries Limited
The company’s earnings per share (EPS) was Tk 6.04 for October-December 2023 as against Tk 0.57 for October-December 2022 and earnings per share was Tk 10.63 for July-December 2023 as against Tk 1.02 for July-December 2022.
Although the company has made good profits during this period, the auditor has recently given an opinion on the financial report of the company for FY23.
The auditor said that in the financial statement for the same fiscal year, the same revaluation of assets that the company had made in FY2006–07 had been mentioned in FY23. Thus it did not give accurate information about the company’s net asset value.
The auditor has recently provided the information on the DSE website after reviewing the company’s financial statement for FY2022-23.
A qualified opinion is a statement issued after an audit is completed by a professional auditor, suggesting that the information provided is limited in scope or that the company being edited has not maintained generally accepted accounting principles.
