High raw material costs drag Aramit Cement down to big losses

Aramit Cement, a sister concern of Aramit Group, which suffered heavy losses due to the pandemic in 2020 and returned to the black during the following fiscal year, has again plunged back into the red zone owning to surges in raw material costs.

The situation is not the same for Aramit Limited, another sister concern of the group. Its profit grew on an increase in service and interest income, despite a 24% drop in revenue.

The listed companies disclosed their half-yearly financials in stock exchange filings on Monday.

In the first half of fiscal 2021-22, Aramit Cement incurred a loss of Tk13.94 crore as its revenue tumbled 58% to Tk39.87 crore.

The loss per share rose to Tk4.11 from Tk0.23 a year earlier.

In the previous fiscal year, the company posted a profit of Tk2.02 crore after shaking off the pandemic funk that made it suffer a loss of Tk23.23 crore a year ago.

Its shares closed 9.79% lower at Tk35, from Tk38.80 in the previous trading session.

In the October-December quarter, its net loss per share stood at Tk2.15 compared to net earnings per share of Tk1.09 a year earlier.

Explaining the deviation in the EPS, the company said an abnormal rise in freight rates drove the raw material cost in the international market compared to the previous period.

Aramit Ltd's profit soars 42% in first-half

Aramit Limited – engaged in producing large section corrugated sheets, light-weight corrugated sheets, flat sheets, mouldings, pipes, and some re-sale products – reported a 42% growth in profit in the first half of the current fiscal year.

The turnover of the company – the oldest and main sponsor of the other sister concerns of Aramit Group according to the company – declined to Tk16.40 crore, but profit rose to Tk1.87 crore.

At the same time the previous fiscal year, its revenue was Tk21.50 crore and profit Tk1.87 crore. The EPS rose to Tk3.12 from Tk2.18 in the first half of the last FY21.

The company said the reason for the significant deviation in EPS is due to earnings from fittings and fixing services and interest income from the associate companies as compared to the same period of July-December 2020.

According to the company, its net operating cash flow per (NOCFPS) became negative at Tk8.92.

It said the negative impact is due to the increase in finished goods stock and the collection from customers not reaching a satisfactory level due to the impact of seasonal factors as well as credit facilities provided to the dealers for a short period.