Pandemic ruins Walton’s final quarter
April-June sales dropped to one-fourth and incurred quarterly loss
Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd has suffered its worst day in the bourses since being listed a month ago.
The company, managing a moderate sales and profit growth in the first nine months, has incurred losses in the fourth or last quarter (April-June) of fiscal year 2019-20.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries Executive Director and Chief Financial officer Abul Bashar Howlader told The Business Standard, "In the days of nationwide shutdown, our sales had dropped drastically like those of all other businesses. It led to a minor loss in the April-June quarter."
Market reacted through a selloff, resulting in an 8.9% drop in share price as the company informed its annual earnings per share (EPS) had plunged to Tk24.1 although the EPS for the first nine months of the fiscal year was over Tk25.
The home-grown electronics and appliances giant managed to earn a fifth of the target revenue in the fourth quarter, which was three-fourths less than that over the same quarter a year ago, said the company's finance boss.
However, following the reopening of the economy, the company has been regaining its momentum in business, and sales in the months of the new fiscal year are recovering moderately, he said.
He declined to mention any figure before the detailed official disclosures for the first (July-September) quarter of the current fiscal year.
While talking to The Business Standard on condition of anonymity, some sales team members of the company estimated that quarter over quarter sales are likely to have more than doubled in July-September.
Asked about any supply chain disruption, Howlader said, "The company did not suffer too much sourcing disruption in the fourth quarter due to massive operation and sufficient inventory; rather, it was hindrance sales that created the problem."
To comply with the instructions to ensure anti-pandemic health measures, the company had to absorb some cost along with production and sales loss.
Walton Hi-Tech, the leader in the country's refrigerator market, is emerging as a modern electronics maker targeting both the local and international markets.
A high demand for its shares in the bourses over the last one month helped the company emerge as the second largest listed company in the country.
Experts have been critical about the company's supply-locked initial public offering which resulted in less than 1% free float shares.
Besides, some accounting experts have also been questioning the authenticity of the hyper sales and profit growth of the company just before it came into listing.
Walton shares closed at Tk688.6 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday.