Berger Paints Bangladesh has decided to invest Tk 480 crore to establish a factory in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar. 

The project is expected to be completed in April 2025, said the local subsidiary of an Indian multinational company in a statement published on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website yesterday.

The company has decided to invest to meet a growing demand for paints in the country, Khandker Abu Jafar Sadique, company secretary, told The Daily Star.

The investment excludes the price of the land that has already been purchased and will come from the company's own sources and in the form of loans from banks, he said.

The company has factories in Kalurghat Heavy Industrial Area of Chattogram and Savar of Dhaka. Its shares ended unchanged at Tk 1,711.60 on the DSE yesterday.

The company has decided to invest to meet a growing demand for paints in the country, says Khandker Abu Jafar Sadique, company secretary

The erstwhile Jenson & Nicholson (J&N) set up its Chattogram factory in 1970. Duncan Macneil & Co and Dada Group were its shareholders.

Duncan Macneil sold its shares to the majority shareholder J&N. Dada Group's share was vested on the government after Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.

The name was changed from J&N (Bangladesh) to Berger Paints Bangladesh in 1980. In 2000, J&N Investments (Asia) purchased the part owned by the government.

The multinational paint maker's profits were battered by high price of raw materials and currency devaluation in the July-September period of 2022.

Its profits went up 11 per cent year-on-year to Tk 45.7 crore in the second quarter. In the same period, the company's sales advanced nearly 21 per cent to Tk 542 crore, according to the company's financial report.

Despite significant growth in revenue in the second quarter of 2022-23, the same was not reflected in the profits due to higher cost of raw materials impacted by currency devaluation, said the company.

In the half yearly April-September period of 2022 the company's profits rose to Tk 133 crore, 16 per cent higher than that of the same period of the previous year.

The company's earnings per share stood at Tk 28.78 in the first half of the year. Its paid-up capital was Tk 46 crore while reserve Tk 1,008 crore, shows the DSE data.