Lovello Ice-cream finally pays out due dividend

Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream PLC, after a delay of over five months, has at last disbursed the dividend it had declared for the 2021-22 fiscal year to the shareholders' bank accounts.

The listed firm in the food and allied sector of the stock exchanges had declared a 12% cash dividend for FY22.

As per rules, dividends should be disbursed within a month of securing shareholders' approval at the annual general meeting (AGM).

Lovello's shareholders had approved the dividend at the company's AGM held on 20 December last year. Therefore, the dividend disbursement should have been completed within 20 January.

But the company failed to ensure timely disbursement of the FY22 dividend, which is a non-compliance with the listing regulations.

Hence, because of this delay, the ice-cream maker will have to pay a Tk5,000 fine for each day of default.

The Business Standard tried to reach Taufika Foods Company Secretary Mohammad Didarul Alam over phone for a comment regarding the issue but he didn't respond to the calls on Monday.

But back in February, Alam told TBS that the delay happened mainly because of complexities in processing.

In FY22, the company made a profit of Tk12.15 crore. It has paid out Tk9.35 crore as dividends, and the rest will be added to retained earnings.

In the first nine months of the fiscal 2022-23, the company's revenue grew to Tk74.64 crore, from Tk74.17 crore in the same time of the previous fiscal year.

Its profit grew to Tk6.65 crore, from Tk9.62 crore in July-March of the previous fiscal year.

In the January to March quarter, its revenue fell by 29% year-on-year to Tk24.09 crore, and profit by 25% to Tk3.47 crore.

The company had raised Tk30 crore from the stock market through an initial public offering (IPO) to expand its business.