FE Report (September 30, 2010)
Bangladesh's largest private carrier - GMG Airlines - is set to go public in November this year, chairman of the airline disclosed at an annual general meeting at a city hotel Wednesday.
The 13th annual general meeting (AGM) discussed the Annual Report and Audited Accounts as well as activities of GMG Airlines during the year ending on December 31, 2009 and also on the half yearly financial statement ending on June 30, 2010 and the future plans of the company.
The AGM was presided over by Mr. Shayan F. Rahman, Chairman of the Company. Mr. Shahab Sattar, Managing Director, Mr. O K Chowdhury, Mr. Mohammad Lutfar Rahman, Directors, Mr. Christian Heinzmann Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mohammad Asad Ullah, Company Secretary and Mr. Michal Moriaty, Chief Financial Officer attended the meeting.
Bangladesh's largest business conglomerate, BEXIMCO Group, owns majority stake of the airline and brought into place a massive modernisation and expansion project following the re-launching and re-branding of the decade-old airline in May this year.
As part of the project, the GMG Airlines launched a new logo, added new planes, redesigned the website and expanded to new routes to become the most preferred airlines in the region.
The airline added a wide-bodied Boeing 767-300 ER plane in its fleet to carry passengers to its recently launched Dhaka-Jeddah route. GMG Airlines operates six flights from Dhaka to Jeddah and will soon start operating four from Dhaka to Riyadh.
As a part of this modernisation program, GMG Airlines will soon manage electronic tickets via interfaces from a range of devices such as cellular phones, check-in kiosk, online check-in, boarding cards and baggage handling through Departure Control System, said Mr. Shayan F Rahman
The company's operating revenue was Tk 2,908.07 million during the year ended on 31 December 2009 while the company earned a gross profit and net profit of Tk 647.04 million and Tk 23.38 million respectively. The Company's operating revenues during the half year ended on 30 June 2010 was Tk 2,165. 69 million while the company earned gross profit and net profit of Tk 698.68 million and Tk 368. 71 million respectively and earning per share (EPS) was Tk. 8.38 during the six month period.
The shareholders were highly satisfied with the company's performance during the year under review and also in the first half of the year and appreciated the Management of the Company for their performance. A large number of shareholders attended the meeting.
GMG Airline was established in 1997 and started operations on 6 April 1998. It began with domestic operations and launched international services on 8 September 2004, with a service from Chittagong to Kolkata. It was the first private Bangladeshi airline to launch international services.
Cable Shilpa Ltd to launch IPO by Dec
Bangladesh Cable Shilpa Limited, a concern of the Telecommunications Ministry, is going to offload it shares by end of this year to finance optical fibre and electrical cable plants.
"We have decided to raise Tk 1.0 billion from the market to expand our business," post and telecommunications secretary Sunil Kanti Bose told the FE.
The step is part of the government's broader initiative to list 26 state firms in the stock markets.
The company started its business in 1972 and it never incurred any loss as it has a strong product line, the secretary said.
Bangladesh is now reliant on the import of optical fibre but Mr Bose said if the company sets up plant and goes into operation, it will be able to supply wires in the local market.
"The optical fibre plant will be set up in November and it will start pilot production from December," he told the FE. "The market is growing and in the future we will have to expand the production base," he said.
The company is going to diversify its product range to cater to the need of the market, said an official of the company.
The company produces copper cable used in telephone line but the demand for the product is on the decline due to massive rise in demand for cell phone, he said.
The electrical cable plant will produce power cable used for transmission line and electrical wire used in households, he added.
The company has almost completed reevaluation of its asset and liabilities and is going to appoint an issue manager to handle the initial public offering process by October, the official said.
The company ran its operation under 'no profit no gain' policy up to 1994 but after that it started working on a commercial basis, he said.
During the 1990s, the state enterprise's annual profit ranged from Tk 40 to 60 million but profits jumped to Tk 60 million and Tk 100 million in the last decade.
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