Intraco's 2 gas stations to start operations from 18 Dec

Two gas stations of the Intraco Refueling Stations Limited are set to kick off commercial operations from 18 December. 

According to its stock exchange filing on Tuesday, the company's LPG auto gas station in Chattogram and a mother-daughter CNG station in Keraniganj are ready for operation. 

The company has invested around Tk8 crore for the two stations. 

Earlier, it decided to set up five Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) auto gas stations and five mother-daughter CNG stations to expand its business.

Intraco's Company Secretary GM Salahuddin said, "The two stations have been built using our own source of funds."

He said they will generate around Tk15 crore revenue annually, and the company's net profit is expected to go up by 20%.

Intraco is trying to collect Tk50 crore through issuing bonds. The remaining eight stations will be set up gradually after getting the fund, he added.

The company is eyeing to manufacture LPG cylinders from January 2023 to meet the growing demand for cooking gas in the local market.

It invested Tk31.5 crore, of which Tk30 crore was its initial public offering (IPO) fund, to buy a 40,000 sq ft LPG cylinder factory in Cumilla, with a production capacity of 2,500 cylinders per day.

In July this year, the firm also decided to merge with its five subsidiaries to avail corporate tax benefits and reduce administrative expenses subject to approval from shareholders and regulators.

Currently, listed companies pay 20% and non-listed ones pay 27.5% corporate tax.

Intraco Refueling Station holds more than a 95% stake in those five subsidiaries. The move for a merger will help the parent company to be more profitable, its management expects.

Earlier, it raised Tk30 crore from the stock market in 2018 in order to establish a bottling plant at Chattogram's Patenga.

But later, it changed the project and decided to purchase a newly-built LPG cylinder manufacturing factory after taking approval from its shareholders.

The country's LPG market is growing exponentially. According to the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh, the annual demand for LPG is around 12 lakh tonnes, of which 99% are imported.

In the July-September period of the current fiscal year, Intraco's revenue was Tk18.61 crore, up from Tk16.46 crore a year ago.

Its net profit was Tk2.73 crore, up from Tk1.71 crore in the same period of the fiscal 2021-22.