Singer Bangladesh, a household appliances trading company, saw its profit slump about 24.2 per cent last year due to  shutdown of outlets during peak summer season.

The company owned by Turkish only Fortune 500 listed group Koc Holdings bought around Tk 634 crore investment  (US$ 75 million) last year logged in profit of about Tk 78.3 crore.

The summer season, which is the months between April and June, typically makes up 40 per cent of annual sales of refrigerators and air conditioners, Kazi Ashiqur Rahman, company secretary of Singer Bangladesh told .  But the stores were closed for a large chunk of that season.

Given the drop in profit, the company’s board of directors last week declared a 30 per cent cash dividend for the year, down from 77 per cent disbursed a year earlier.

Shares of Singer Bangladesh, which has been listed since 1983, closed at Tk 170.8 February 11, 2021.

Singer has been operating in this region (Bangladesh) since 1905. Singer Bangladesh Limited was incorporated as a private limited company on 4 September 1979 and converted into a public limited company in 1983 when it offered its shares to the public with the requisite permission from the Government.

Today, Singer Bangladesh Limited is a large, diversified company with an unmatched presence throughout Bangladesh. Beginning with the sewing machine, Singer has diversified its product portfolio to encompass a highly successful multi-brand strategy combining products of top world marques with the Company’s own products across a range of electrical home appliances.

Hire Purchase scheme is one of the cardinal factors for the success of the Company. This scheme is innovative and appropriate for Bangladesh considering the socio-economic conditions of the country.

In 2019, Singer Bangladesh Limited became a member of Arcelik A. S., Turkish largest home appliances company (Part of Koc Holding, Turkey). Retail Holdings Bhold B. V. is the majority shareholder in the company, holding a stake of 57%. The public shareholding accounts for 43%.

Koç Holding is Turkey’s leading investment holding company and Koç Group is Turkey’s largest industrial and services group in terms of revenues, exports, number of employees, taxes paid and market capitalization on Borsa Istanbul. The Group has been a driving force of the Turkish economy with total sales that correspond 8% of Turkey’s GDP and exports that comprise 9% of Turkey’s total exports.