Salvo Chemical’s cornstarch unit ready for production

Salvo Chemical Industry yesterday announced that its cornstarch unit is ready to commence production.

The required machinery has been set up and trial runs conducted, said the listed company in a disclosure on the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Cornstarch is used in food-processing, pharmaceuticals, paper and textile sectors.

It is a popular cooking ingredient for soups, stews, sauces and custards and is also used in clothing to keep them crisp and wrinkle-free.

By implementing the project, Salvo Chemical Industry will be able to supply the key raw material to its own manufacturing unit for liquid glucose.

Earlier, the company informed that it planned to invest around Tk 70 crore to set up the factory and it would produce around 25,000 tonnes of the material annually.

The company produces agro-based organic chemicals such as maize starch powder of food and textile grades, liquid glucose, maize germ, corn gluten meal, pulverised fibres, and non-organic chemical sulphuric acid, according to its website.

The company's earnings rose more than nine times in the January-March quarter of the current financial year.

Earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 1.14 in the quarter against Tk 0.12 in the same period a year ago, an increase of a staggering 850 per cent year-on-year, according to the company's unaudited financial statement.

The EPS was Tk 2.49 in the first nine months of the financial year ending in June, up nearly 500 per cent against Tk 0.42 in the same period a year ago.

The company attributed the surge in profits to increased sales as demand rose. Non-operating income also rose during the period significantly.

"Therefore, sales, gross profit, net profit, and EPS increased compared to the same period of the previous year," it said.

The net operating cash flows per share, a measure of a firm's financial strength, went up to Tk 3.46 in the July-March period from Tk 0.63 last financial year, thanks to the increased sales and collection from customers and cash received from other than operating income.

Net asset value per share rose to Tk 14.99 as of March 31. It was Tk 12.69 as of June 30 last year.