Unilever sees slight drop in profits

Profits of Unilever Consumer Care, formerly GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh, dropped marginally in 2021 compared to the previous year due to the lower income from bank deposits.

The company's earnings per share fell 0.14 per cent to Tk 43.80 at the same time, down from Tk 43.94 in 2020.

Although its operating profit has increased by 32.5 per cent and EPS from continuing operation have improved by Tk 2.55 but overall EPS has marginally decreased due to lower net finance income resulting from lower interest rate, the company said in a disclosure yesterday that was posted at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website.

Based on its profits, the multinational company announced a 440 per cent cash dividend for shareholders, which was the same in the previous year.

After announcing declining profits, stocks of Unilever Consumer Care dropped 6.18 per cent to Tk 2,939 at the DSE.

At present, its paid-up capital is Tk 12 crore, according to DSE data.

Sponsors of the company collectively hold 87.79 per cent of its shares, while institutional investors own 7.80 per cent and the rest are held by general investors.

Net operating cash flow per share of Unilever Consumer Care more than doubled to Tk 51.65 in 2021.

Significant increase in operating cash flow has resulted from higher sales growth and lower expenses for costs in 2021, Unilever Consumer Care said in the disclosure.

Higher inventory build-up in 2020 also caused the higher cash flow, it added.