Loss-making BD Thai Aluminium's share price hits a year high

The share price of publicly listed Bangladesh Thai Aluminium, commonly known as BD Thai Aluminium, jumped 82% in a month to reach its highest in a year despite the company incurring a loss in the last fiscal year.

At the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Sunday, its shares closed at Tk23.3 apiece and the stock secured the second position on the top gainers' table with a 9.9% appreciation compared to the previous trading session.

In the fiscal 2022-23, BD Thai incurred a loss of Tk6.60 crore and its revenue dropped 20% year-on-year to Tk93 crore.

The company also saw a loss of Tk2.37 crore in the July to September quarter of this fiscal. Its turnover declined 32% year-on-year to Tk17 crore.

For the last two consecutive years, BD Thai has failed to pay any dividend to the shareholders.

Seeking explanations behind the unusual increase in share price, the DSE had sent a query letter to BD Thai. In response, the company said it has no undisclosed price sensitive information that might have impacted its share price.

In its FY23 annual report, the company's Chairperson Rubina Hamid stated the company could not earn its desired level of net profit due to the high inflationary environment stemming from energy crisis, depreciation of taka, and concerns about adequacy of the dollar reserve.

Its acting Managing Director Abdul Bari said in the report, "We are struggling to overcome the crisis. Globally, aluminum raw material prices were very high in the recent past. Higher dollar rate is causing a sharp rise in import prices, while we are facing challenges to keep our delivery consistent to the national and local projects."

Rubina Hamid, sister of the Health Minister Zahid Maleque, holds 2.34% shares in BD Thai, while the state-owned Investment Corporation of Bangladesh has 14.97% shares. The health minister owned 9.72% of the company's shares.

Recently, the Maleque family sold off their entire holdings in Sunlife Insurance to Green Delta Insurance.