Unilever Consumer Care proposes 440pc dividend

Unilever Consumer Care is going to give 440 per cent cash dividend to the shareholders for the year ended on December 31, 2020 as the board of the company has made such recommendation.

The recommendation for the said dividend would be approved at the annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled to be held virtually at 11:00am on April 29.

Meanwhile, the record date of the share of the company is set on March 23, a company press release said.

The earnings per share of the multinational company plunged by over 46 per cent to 43.94 for the year ended on December 31, 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In 2019, its EPS was Tk 81.83.

The company has also reported net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 123.08 and net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) of Tk 46.36 for the year ended on December 31, 2020 as against Tk 132.14 and Tk 82.84 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

The company said the reduction in profit mainly resulted from lower sales caused by raw materials’ supply shortage due to the pandemic, inflation of key raw materials’ price and rise in duty on Dry Mix Ingredients (15 per cent to 25 per cent) partly offset by savings from marketing and operating expenses.

Reduction in 2020 NAV resulted mainly due to reduction in cash balance resulting from lower profit, partly offset by improvement in working capital, said the company.

NOCFPS reduced in 2020 due to lower profit and higher tax payment partially offset by higher interest received, it added.

Unilever Group acquired GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Bangladesh in 2020 with a value of more than Tk 20 billion and renamed it as Unilever Consumer Care. It is now a part of Unilever Group focusing on consumer healthcare nutrition business.

In July last year, GlaxoSmithKline (Bangladesh) Ltd changed to Unilever Consumer Care Ltd and also switched to food and allied from pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

Its paid-up capital is Tk 120.46 million and authorised capital is Tk 200 million while total number of securities is 12.04 million.

As of January 2021, out of the total shares of Unilever Consumer Care, its sponsors and directors hold 90.51 per cent, institutional investors 5.15 per cent, foreign investors 0.34 per cent and general investors 4.0 per cent shares.

There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the Company today following its corporate declaration; however, as per the BSEC order dated March 19, 2020, the floor price shall be applicable accordingly.

Each share of the company closed at Tk 3,139 on Sunday at DSE.