Runner to buy 781 decimal land in Bhaluka, Magura to expand business
It will also sell a 552 decimal plot at Boradoba, Mymensingh, according to a disclosure at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE)
Runner Automobiles decided to buy 374 decimals land at Sreepur, Magura and 407 decimals land nearby its existing factory complex at Bhaluka, Mymensingh.
It will also sell a 552 decimal plot at Boradoba, Mymensingh, according to a disclosure at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The land sale-buying is for "strategic business expansion," the company informed its shareholders and regulator. Further details were not provided.
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However, its Chief Financial Officer Shanat Datta told The Business Standard that the Boradoba land is far from the factory and the board preferred to utilise the sales proceeds for buying a land nearby the plant in Bhaluka.
"The Magura plot seems to be a good deal to buy at this price and it can be used for future expansion," he added.
The DSE, meanwhile, sought explanation from the company for delayed submission of the information of the board approval for the planned buying-selling of lands as the board meeting took place on 24 April.
When contacted, its company secretary Md Mizanur Rahman said it is not price sensitive information (PSI) by definition, instead a material information that also needs proper communication.
However, unlike PSIs that need to be communicated in 30 minutes of the board meeting, material information dissemination has no specific timeline.
"We communicated it before execution," said the company secretary.
Prices of the lands to be sold and bought were not communicated by the company.
Runner Automobiles is the pioneering two wheeler manufacturer in Bangladesh that also manufactures Bajaj three wheelers and sells Eicher trucks.
The company after its quarters-long struggle to avert losses amid currency volatility and economic slowdown has returned to profit in the January-March period.
Its earnings per share (EPS) for the three months increased to Tk0.43, against a loss of Tk1.35 per share for the same period last year.
For the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, the EPS stood at Tk0.07, against a loss of Tk3.57 per share.
At the end of March, Runner's net asset value per share stood at Tk65.96.
Runner shares having a face value of Tk10, closed 1.92% lower at Tk25.6 apiece on the Dhaka bourse today (22 May).
