BATBC offers 30% dividend, lowest in 10 years

British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Ltd (BATBC) has announced a 30 percent cash dividend for its shareholders for 2025, which, according to data available on the Dhaka bourse, is the lowest dividend in about a decade.

A sharp decline in profit pushed the multinational cigarette producer to declare such a low dividend through a board meeting yesterday.

The 100 percent cash dividend the company declared in 2023 was previously the lowest, as it usually provides between 400 percent and 600 percent cash dividend, according to company data available since 2015 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website.

As per a disclosure by the company, its earnings per share plunged by around 67 percent year-on-year to Tk 10.81, compared to Tk 32.42 the previous year.

However, the company did not provide any reason for such a drop in profit.

Along with profit, its net asset value per share also fell to Tk 102 from Tk 106.8 the previous year.

At the DSE yesterday, the tobacco company’s stock was traded at Tk 266, almost a two-year low for the company’s shares.