Production drops at Imam Button for lack of investment

Imam Button Industries Ltd, a listed company on the share market, is currently experiencing unfavorable conditions due to a lack of new machinery and investment.

The company has also failed to hold its last annual general meeting.

So, there is no new hope for the company's investors.

Sources from the company said that machines – purchased at the beginning of the company's launch- have been dysfunctional. The installation of new machines has yet to be done, they said.

The management of the company does not have a plan of immediate investment as well.

As a result, the button production has reduced to 300 great gross – whereas it had surpassed thousands.

Since the company does not have an employee working on marketing, it does not have new buyers. Moreover, potential buyers are getting quality products from other companies.

An official of the company, on condition of anonymity, said, "The company management has been discussing bringing in new machines, but they are not complying with their statements."

Meanwhile, the sales of the company are on the decline. Instead of recruiting, the company is terminating employees. In this short-scale production, it is not possible for the company to survive, he added.

The company also could not repay a long-term loan worth Tk30 million at 18 percent interest from Prime Finance and Investment.

The production activities, at Pahartali in Chattogram, are underway using broken machines, load shedding.

Imam Button is unable to set the button price with the prices of button-producing materials.

According to the financial report of the first half of this year, the company's net loss was Tk0.22 crore. At the same time, the company's earnings per share was negative Tk0.28.

Its net asset value per share was Tk5.04 which was Tk5.32 in the previous year.

In the last quarter, the company's net income dropped 66.66 percent from the same period of the previous quarter.

Imam Button has not recommended a dividend since 2011 for its shareholders.

The sponsors and directors of the company jointly own 29.33 percent shares, institutional investors own 9.01 percent, and general investors own 61.66 percent.

The last trading price of each share of the company at the Dhaka Stock Exchange was Tk20.

Imam Button Industries Ltd was incorporated in 1994 and was listed on both stock exchanges in 1996. The company provides buttons for the apparel sector. It offers a range of products, such as: logo buttons, horn buttons, fancy buttons, chalk buttons, and pearl buttons.