Submarine Cable Company’s Profit jumps eightfold

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd’s [BSCCL] net profit climbed eight times last fiscal year, on the back of a boost in bandwidth usage through a second undersea cable. The state-run cable company’s net profit rose to Tk 58.58 crore in 2018-19 from Tk 7.33 crore in 2017-18, according to its annual financial statement. The company also clocked the highest ever single year revenue of Tk 195.57 crore last fiscal year during its decade-long journey. In order to connect with SEA-ME-WE-6 [South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe], an optical fibre submarine communications cable system, the BSCCL will need Tk 600 crore. The cable company has decided to earmark Tk 30 crore from last fiscal year’s net profit. In the next two years, the BSCCL will have to do the same. The country will be connected with its third undersea cable in June 2023, adding 10 terabits per second bandwidth to the national capacity. Bangladesh was connected with its first undersea cable, SEA-ME-WE 4, in 2006 and with the second one, SEA-ME-WE 5, in 2017. The SEA-ME-WE 4 initially had 10 Gbps capacity but it was later increased to 300 Gbps and it will last only five more years. Thanks to the SEA-ME-WE 5, the BSCCL received 1,500 Gbps but it rose to 2,300 Gbps with technical advancements. As of September, the country’s total international bandwidth consumption reached 1,250 Gbps, of which the BSCCL is supplying 650 Gbps, officials said. The rest is imported from India. The government owns 73.84 percent stake in the company, while institutional investors own 11.20 percent, foreign investors 3.03 percent, and general public 11.94 percent. The BSCCL shares closed down 2.95 percent at Tk 108.30 on Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/submarine-cable-companys-profit-jumps-eightfold-1826986

Heidelberg to snap up Ultratech

Fierce competition among too many producers has forced Emirates Cement Bangladesh, the owning company of Ultratech, to sell its entire stakes in Bangladesh to Germany’s HeidelbergCement. HeidelbergCement Bangladesh in a statement yesterday announced that the board of directors of the company has approved the acquisition of 100 percent of Emirates Cement Bangladesh and Emirates Power Company at a cost of nearly Tk 183 crore [$21.59 million]. Ultratech had entered into the Bangladesh market following India’s Aditya Birla Group’s acquisition of Dubai-based ETA Star Cement in 2010 at a price of $380 million, giving it direct access to markets in the Middle East and Bangladesh. The cement maker incurred losses in five years since the commencement of production in 2011 and made profits in the remaining years. At the end of fiscal 2018-19, its reserve and surplus stood Tk 56.69 crore in the negative. Bangladesh has the capacity to produce 60 million tonnes of cement, exceeding a market demand of 35 million tonnes, according to industry people. Of the 75 cement manufacturers in Bangladesh, around three dozens are actively making cement. Heidelberg’s yearly cement production capacity is 2.37 million tonnes, according to the company’s 2018 annual report. It has two brands: Scan Cement and Ruby Cement. Heidelberg, which has paid-up capital of Tk 565.04 crore, posted profit of Tk 80.98 crore in 2018, with an earnings per share of Tk 14.33. On the other hand, Ultratech’s Bangladesh plant has an annual capacity of 0.5 million tonnes.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/heidelberg-snap-ultratech-1826983

115 Taxpayers awarded in Ctg, Khulna

A total of 38 persons from Chattogram, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Cox’s Bazar were awarded yesterday as best taxpayers under four categories. The award crests for fiscal 2018-19 highlighted the highest amount of tax paid by a person, woman and under-40 youth and taxpayer of the longest period. The recognition came at a ceremony organised by Income Tax Department at GEC Convention Centre in Chattogram city. Addressing it as chief guest, Information Minister Hasan Mahmud said income tax in Bangladesh accounted for 10 percent of the GDP, lower than that in Nepal. Honouring taxpayers aims at encouraging people to pay tax and such programmes need to be extended to the upazila level. One crore people are liable to pay taxes but they do not feel it to be their duty, said the minister, adding, “Our GDP has increased fourfold but the number of taxpayers has not increased at the expected rate.” Chattogram Tax Circle-2 Commissioner Abul Kalam Kaikobad chaired the programme. Meanwhile, Khulna Income Tax Zone awarded 77 people from Khulna City Corporation, 10 districts and five pourasavas, reports a correspondent.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/115-taxpayers-awarded-ctg-khulna-1826977