STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Standard Ceramic Industries Ltd suffered a loss of Tk 1.94 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year owing to higher cost of imported raw materials and the US dollar.

The ceramic manufacturer incurred a loss of Tk 1.51 crore in the July-September quarter of the previous financial year as well.

Thus, the company reported earnings per share of Tk 3 in negative in the first quarter compared to Tk 2.33 in negative in the July-September of 2021-22, according to the unaudited financial statements.

The basic EPS turned negative as the overall economic condition was dull for Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war as well as because of the higher cost of imported raw materials driven by a spike in freight charges and the dollar rate fluctuation, said Standard Ceramic in a filing on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday.

The factors adversely reduced sales and gross profit, it said. The net operating cash flow per share was also a negative of Tk 2.22 in July-September of 2022-23 against Tk 0.50 in positive in the identical quarter of 2021-22.

The NOCFPS decreased as the collection against sales declined whereas the payments to suppliers rose to some extent, said the posting. The net asset value per share was Tk 3.65 on September 30 and Tk 6.66 on June 30. Shares of Standard Ceramic were down 0.96 per cent to Tk 133.50 on the DSE yesterday.