Investors show mixed interest in ACI quarterly outcomes 

ACI Limited and ACI Formulation have posted a positive outcome in the January-March quarter but investors showed a mixed interest in their share trading on Tuesday.

The share price of ACI Limited, which bounced back into profit from losses in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, fell by 2.69% to close at Tk249.30 per share at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

However, ACI Formulation, a subsidiary of the business conglomerate, reported a 139% year-on-year growth in profit in the third quarter, and its share price jumped by 9.95% to Tk131.50 each. 

According to the financial statements, ACI Limited reported consolidated profits for the third consecutive quarter thanks to its increased revenue and cost control that helped the trend of the positive bottom line.

Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk0.35 for the third quarter, while the company suffered a net loss of Tk4.81 per share over the same period a year ago.

The quarterly EPS has significantly declined compared to that over the previous two quarters.

Over the first six months of the current fiscal year, ACI and its subsidiary companies together reported EPS of Tk3.19 which helped the EPS grow in the first nine months to Tk3.54, against Tk15.9 loss per share over the same period a year ago.

The consolidated third-quarter revenue grew to Tk1,959 crore, which is 6% higher than the same period of 2020, and only 2% up from the October-December quarter.

For the first nine months, the revenue stood at Tk5,697 crore, up from Tk5,186 crore over the same period a year ago.

The control over administrative, selling and other operational expenses helped the company post higher operating profits compared to the same period a year ago, said its financial presentation.

Also, the declined interest expense added to net profits, despite the fact the company set aside more from profits this year, it added.

Meanwhile, ACI Formulation, which is engaged in crop care products business, achieved EPS of Tk1.56 in the third quarter of this fiscal year, which was Tk0.64 over the same period a year ago.

In the first nine months of this fiscal year, its EPS stood at Tk4.03, which was 122% higher than the previous year at the same time.

Its revenue also increased by 16% to Tk301.61 crore in the first three-quarters of this fiscal year.

The company said, in the financial presentation paper, the increase in sales and effective control over operating expenses coupled with lower financing cost due to lower interest rate and efficient working capital management led to higher consolidated profit after tax.