Olympic Industries plans capacity expansion

Olympic Industries – the country’s oldest consumer goods manufacturing company – plans to raise capacity to produce new types of biscuits in order to better cater to the demand for its products.   The company is expected to start commercial production from February or March next year by setting up two plants in its new biscuit factory premises at Sonargaon, Narayanganj. The combined capacity of the two plants will be 30,000 tons per annum, said the company in a statement yesterday.   It will spend a total of Tk622.28m on the expansion, producing biscuits including cream sandwich biscuit. Of the total project cost, Tk350m will be taken as a loan from commercial banks and the remaining Tk272.28m will be provided by the company itself.   “The company in its board meeting has decided to expand its production to meet demand for its products in the market,” said an official.    Modern machinery and equipment will be imported from manufacturers in Italy and India, along with cream-making and sandwiching machinery from Peters Sandwiching in the USA, he said.   Listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1989, sponsors and directors have a stake of 31.47%, institutes 15.1% and the public 53.41% in the company. Its share prices jumped almost 80% to Tk210 each in the previous month. In the third quarter ended on March 31, 2013, the company posted a profit of Tk154m; an increase of 17.6% in the same period a year ago.   Olympic Industries is one of the longest running and most reputed manufacturing-based companies in Bangladesh, with a heritage of over 50 years and a group profile including interests in pharmaceuticals, power and information technology, among other FMCG.    Its expansion comes since September, 2011, when the company had set up its 5th biscuit line on its own plot of land at Lolati, Sonargaon, Narayanganj at a cost of Tk250m taking loans from commercial banks.    The plant started to produce 1,800 tons of biscuits per month from July 2012. The plant's machinery had been imported from Italy and India.   Starting with steel production dating back to 1950, the company has steadily diversified over the years into various consumer goods including biscuits, confectioneries, batteries, and ball pens, with over 40 brands.