Sonali Paper starts aluminium foil production

Sonali Paper and Board Mills Ltd – a publicly listed manufacturer of white, printing, simplex, and duplex papers – started the commercial production of its new product line of aluminium foil papers on Monday.

In a Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) filing on Tuesday, the company said that the aluminium foil unit's maximum production capacity will be 2.8 crore pieces per year, and it is expected to generate around Tk19.6 crore in annual revenue.

In May 2021, Sonali Paper signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese firm Zhangjiagang Fineness Aluminium Foil Company to set up an aluminium foil paper factory in Rupganj, Narayanganj.

Company Secretary Rashedul Hossain Imon said most of the aluminium foil papers in Bangladesh are imported. The product has a huge demand in the growing local market.

In FY21, the country imported aluminium foil paper worth $69 million.

"We set up the factory which will produce four types of aluminium foil paper through automation through our own finances," he added.

Aluminium foil containers are used in family banquets and the packaging of food-related industries such as airline snacks, and western-style pastry baking.

Industrial aluminium foil jumbo rolls are used in electronics, cigarettes, and the food packing industry.

Besides, companies can coat, emboss, and slit aviation food packaging foils of various colours and designs according to client's demand.

Sonali Paper and Board Mills started business in 1977 and got listed on the Dhaka bourse in 1985.

Its shares traded on the DSE's over-the-counter (OTC) market for ten years because of its failure to comply with listing regulations. But in 2020, it returned to the mainboard as it demonstrated a comeback in its business.

In the first nine months of fiscal 2021-22, the company's revenue stood at Tk166.93 crore, which was Tk112.36 crore in the same period of the previous year. A big portion of the revenue was generated through capital market investments.

During the period, its net profit stood at Tk32.33 crore, while its capital market income stood at Tk26.05 crore.

Its earnings per share stood at Tk14.92 and net asset value per share at Tk249.99 as of March 2022.   

Sponsor-directors own 72.06% stakes in the company while institutional investors hold 5.54% and the general public 22.40% as of 30 April 2021.

The last trading price of the company's shares was Tk729.8 each on the DSE on Tuesday.