ACI suffers loss in Q1

ACI Limited, a leading conglomerate in Bangladesh, incurred losses of Tk 18.59 crore in the July-September period of the current financial year due to higher interest costs and depreciation of the local currency against the dollar that fuelled raw material costs.

The listed company's first quarter profits for FY2022-23 were down 25 per cent compared to Tk 24.82 crore during the same period a year earlier.

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On condition of anonymity, a top official of ACI said higher interest and raw material costs turned the company's profits into losses.

ACI's net finance costs increased by Tk 29 crore, or 33 per cent year-on-year, to Tk 117 crore in the first quarter, according to the company's financial report.

Besides, raw material costs increased mainly due to depreciation of the local currency, he added.

ACI spent 77 per cent of its revenue on the cost of goods sold during the July-September period while it was 72 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company had achieved significant growth in revenue during the first three months of the ongoing financial year thanks to higher sales in certain segments.

As such, ACI's revenue rose 24 per cent year-on-year to Tk 2,678 crore in the first quarter, when its sales from the motor segment soared 61 per cent to Tk 606 crore while that of the retail chain segment rose 32 per cent to Tk 397 crore.

In addition, ACI's revenue from the flour, animal health, consumer brands and seed segments also rose while its turnover from the pharmaceutical segment dropped 19 per cent to Tk 325 crore.

However, the substantial increase in costs due to macroeconomic factors, including a significant increase in import costs caused by the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar, led to the decline in consolidated profits compared to the same period of last year, the company said.

Its profit before tax dropped massively in the pharmaceuticals sector, falling 89 per cent to Tk 8.8 crore in the quarter.

So, ACI reported consolidated earnings per share of Tk 3.94 in the negative for July-September while it was Tk 3.42 in the same quarter of FY 2021-22.

The consolidated net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) was negative Tk 85.45 in the first quarter this year compared to negative Tk 15.81 in the same three-month period of the preceding year.

The NOCFPS decreased mainly due to investment in working capital to facilitate business growth in coming months, it added.

The consolidated net asset value per share was Tk 137.60 on September 30 and Tk 141.98 on June 30. Shares of ACI were unchanged at Tk 273.20 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.