Unilever stocks rise on higher profits

Stocks of Unilever Consumer Care, formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, rose 0.52 per cent to Tk 2,861 at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday after it announced that its profits had gone up 40 per cent.

Its earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 14.33 in the first quarter (January to March) of 2022 whereas it was Tk 10.20 in the same period of the previous year.

The EPS rose due to an improved mix of sales and efficiency in managing operating expenses, the company said in the disclosure.

The multinational disbursed 440 per cent cash dividend among shareholders for 2021, when the EPS was Tk 43.80.

Unilever bought more than 82 per cent of GlaxoSmithKline's health food and drinks business in Bangladesh from Setfirst, a corporate director of the company, in 2020 in its push to further its footprint in Asia's fast-growing economies.

Around 87.79 per cent of the company's stakes are now in the hand of sponsors while 7.91 per cent are held by institutional investors, 0.29 per cent by foreign investors and 4.01 per cent by general investors, according to the DSE data.