BSRM Steels Limited (BSRMSTEEL) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Foreign Language] Thank you, [ Mr. Sajjad ]. Ladies and gentlemen, in remembrance of the language movement martyr on 21st February 1952, to pay tribute to the freedom fighters and martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War and the martyrs of July 2024 revolution, I kindly request everyone to stand for 1 minute silence. Let us remember their sacrifice and pray for their souls. Thank you. Please have a seat. BSRM Group is one of the leading steel manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. Established in 1952, BSRM has played a crucial role in shaping the country's construction company. It is known for producing high-quality steel products. BSRM continues to contribute to national development by supporting mega projects such as bridges, highways and high-rise buildings. With a strong importance in corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability, BSRM remains a trusted name in the steel industry. Now, we are pleased to present a special video showcasing BSRM Group's journey, values and achievements. Let's take a moment to watch. [Presentation]

Now, let's turn our attention to the screen for a speech by our honorable Chairman, Mr. Alihussain Akberali, FCA.

[Foreign Language] My dear shareholders, stock brokerage houses and honorable guests, [Foreign Language] and a good evening. I sincerely regret of not being able to join you in person for this meeting, hosted by BSRM Group, to discuss our half yearly financial results and overall group exposure and information that we are going to share with you. However, I warmly welcome all of you who are attending, whether physically or virtually, to our business conference on our second quarter financial performance. Our CEO and senior management team are present at this meeting to address any questions you may have regarding our company's financials and future outlook. As you all know, BSRM is a company with a rich legacy, established 73 years ago, with our first rolling mill back to in 1952. Today, under the leadership of our third generation, BSRM has grown to become the largest steel manufacturer in Bangladesh. We are proud to operate the country's largest melt shop and the most efficient rolling mill supplied by world-renowned Italian manufacturers. Our operations ensure the lowest gas consumption, power consumption, while achieving the highest production efficiency. During prosperous time before the disturbance, our plants were operating 24/7 with our rotating -- 4 rotating shifts of workers. As Andrew Carnegie, a pioneer in the steel industry, once said, the wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket carefully. At BSRM, we have dedicated ourselves to excellence in steel manufacturing, constantly innovating and optimizing our process to maintain industry leadership. BSRM maintains a strong and trusted relationship with all the banks and financial institutions in the country. And noteworthy, the Japanese financial institution, JICA, has for the first time in our history of our country, has partnered with the private sector in Bangladesh. They have -- for this new industry, which is 600,000 tonnes. Currently, 2 listed companies of ours are producing 2.4 million tonnes of billet and 2.5 million tonnes of rods annually. We have gone through a number of mergers so that now we have become a unified production of rods as well as billets in these 2 organizations. We are proudly employing more than 5,000 people in our organization and our consistent history of paying dividends to our esteemed shareholders. We strictly adhere to the regulation requirements set by BSEC, DSE, CSE and other governing bodies. Our vision is to strengthen our leadership position in the steel industry by producing the highest quality of products, continuously enhancing customer satisfaction and being a reliable business partner to our customers and suppliers. Beyond businessmen, we actively contribute to society through our corporate social responsibility initiative. You have seen a lot of CSR activities that we are doing on the video presentation. Now, recently, for the financially distressed people of Bangladesh, we have started a few months ago 2 free medical clinics where we are also giving free medical -- medicines. Lately, we are going to have a third medical clinic in Bakalia Access Road. So, this activity, we feel that we are -- we want to do something for our beloved distressed financial people in the country. BSRM has been honored the highest taxpayer in the steel industry with our directors also recognized as the highest and long-standing taxpayers. Additionally, we have been continuously awarded as the best brand in the steel sector and also awarded the Best Enterprise of the Year 2023. Our dedication to transparency has earned -- dedication to transparency has earned us a prestigious award from ICAB, ICSB and ICMAB for excellence in annual report presentation. Our report is more than 250, 300 pages, which contains each and every detail any investor would like to look into. Our financial statements are readily available online for your review. You will find that our net asset value is significantly higher than our present market price. I strongly encourage our investors to take a long-term approach, as true valuation creation comes from companies led by ethical leaders and consistent track record of growth. As Warren Buffett wisely said, the stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient. Investing in BSRM is an investment in long-term sustainability and growth. Here, I would like to inform you that BSRM Steels has made BDT 175 crores as net profit after taxes in July to December '24 as against BDT 154 crores net profit after taxes in July to December 2023, while BSRM Limited has shown a profit of BDT 201 crores for the year '23-'24 -- July to December '24, while it was only BDT 186 crores in July to December '23. Surprisingly, the newspapers have mentioned that our net income has gone down, and they only compared from quarter-to-quarter and not on the 6 months. So I would urge all the shareholders to personally get associated with some financial analysts or they themselves see our records and then take a decision which company is good or bad. Please understand the market cycle. It keeps changing, and the weather also predicts increasing consumption. To me, as a shareholder, you should worry about the integrity of the entrepreneurs and their experience who run the show and what is the background. I strongly urge our shareholders never to go on rumors or current quarter or yearly profits, but to take opinion of the financial analysts and they themselves study any company's financials to find out what is the potential of this group. We as 60% owners of this company imagine why will we not like to run the company as efficient as ever. So you should remember that when you buy our shares, you also step in our shoes. The only minus thing is that the confidence that you should have on the entrepreneurs, the promoters of this group, and our 73 years track record speaks by itself. Leading brokerage firms and shareholders are welcome to visit our plants to witness firsthand the scale and efficiency of our operations. As mentioned earlier, BSRM proudly houses the largest melt shop in Bangladesh, along with the most advanced rolling mill, ensuring sustainable and efficient production. During the pandemic period, BSRM remained committed to its workforce and did not lay off any employees. We take immense pride in our dedicated team of workers, staffs, engineers and officers, whose hard work and commitment have been instrumental in our success. We extend our deepest gratitude to our bankers, employees and all regulatory agencies, including [ BSE ], DSE, CSE for their unwavering support throughout our 73 years of history. BSRM Group dividend is not as much against -- as against the earnings. The main reason is that at BSRM, for the past 14 years, you will observe that BSRM has grown from a mere 110,000 tonnes per year in production in 2008 to [ 24 lakh tonnes ] in this year with the new mill just commissioned. If we have passed away entire income as dividend, the company would not have added value to our industry. And after all, we are 60%, 65% or 70% owners. So we would love to take away the money from the company and put it in FDRs or invest in some other businesses. We have not done that. We are married to steel, we drink steel, we sleep steel and we talk about steel. And that is what is our story about. Please do not judge a company by what dividend it pays, but consider the huge potential in growth any industry is making year after year. In initial years, depreciation and interest expense on new projects will always be high. Learning curve is there. So one has to have patient in large cap industries, plus watch how much revenue, not capital reserves, the company has and revenue -- and also not the capital reserve, but the revenue reserves the company has as against the paid-up capital. This will give you the strength of a company so that if in a year, we are losing, rest assured, we will try our level best for our shareholders to get some of the dividends even from the revenue earnings reserves, if that is possible and there is no major investment opportunity for us. Also observe how much shares are floating in the market, which too will show seriousness of the promoters that they are serious about their businesses and not diluting their shares. Also, just recently, there was a Financial Express article in which they have given P/E ratio of various shares. So BSRM is the lowest P/E ratio of 5.3. So imagine the potential of investment in BSRM. As an old industry says, steel is the backbone of modern civilization. At present, we are honored to play a vital role in building a strong and more resilient Bangladesh. Lastly, I urge the investors not to go for shortcuts. But some shareholders, some investors, they do need quick money. So they have to speculate and they have to have our own BO account and start trading in our own on a daily basis. But for BSRM, we -- let me tell you, BSRM, you have to look a long-term [ prospect ], and we are not here to encourage you to raise the share of BSRM. No, we want you to understand that BSRM is a company where the growth potential is huge. If some smart accountant checks what is our depreciation and in how many years we are going to pay off the depreciation, and imagine the growth the company will have. And with the money that we are having in our reserves, you will see, in future, when we set up new projects, the growth will be there. So BSRM is not a shortcut to success that you buy today shares, and tomorrow, the price will increase. Of course, today, it is a very depressed market, and I would urge potential investors to take this opportunity of buying our shares. But I'm not projecting -- to project to buy my shares, but what I'm saying is that the stock brokers should encourage their investors to invest in a company which is backed by experienced entrepreneurs, which has got a good potential to rise. We also are the investors in this BSRM company. So we will try our level best to raise the level of our company. In the end, I thank everybody who has taken out time and who are watching our live stream to understand what is BSRM about. We are here just to explain that there is no shortcut. BSRM is for people who want to invest money in banks. Our yield is lower than the bank interest rates, we agree. But the long-term potential of investing in a solid steel-based company, where the entire infrastructure of the country is dependent, so I feel BSRM is a good company to look at. In the end, thank you very much for speaking to you all [Foreign Language]. Long live Bangladesh.

Thank you, sir. Now, it is my honor to invite our respected Managing Director, Mr. Aameir Alihussain, to deliver his speech. Please welcome him.

[Foreign Language] We have, I think, 1 or 2 foreigners here. So welcome at this event for our second quarter financial performance presentation. BSRM has a long history. We started manufacturing in 1952. And of course, a lot of our history is also available to be seen on our website also. So in so many years, we have evolved into a third-generation company. And since 1952, we have grown steadily. And the good thing about the company is that we have grown as our country has grown. Last, about since, I think, 1995, the trajectory of Bangladesh has changed from a growth perspective. And we -- what we have done from our own internal strategy perspective is that we have grown together with our nation's economy, and we have grown more than our national growth. So over time, we have really invested in technology. We have really invested well in capacity enhancements. We have a lot of strengths. So we are very proud of our strengths. Of course, there are always good things and bad things about companies, about people, about society, about country. But we are really proud of our strengths, which are -- some of them are very unique to us. And these strengths help us to sustain, to keep growing and also be always vibrant in the market, in the business that we are. We have an overall very good credit rating. Our brand always gets the best brand award. We work very hard on the marketing and on the branding. And of course, just marketing is not enough. It's obviously backed by good quality material, good service to the customer. Brand has a lot of attributes. It's just not about the branding initiative, but also backed by the whole operations and how we conduct the business. So we are proud to be having every year the best brand award in our category. We have a huge distribution capacity. Logistics-wise, we are very, very strong. So there is hardly any comparison to the kind of logistics and the distribution infrastructure that we have created. So, as we have expanded our capacities, we have expanded our distribution capacities. And especially, we were tested very well in December. The whole quarter, until November, generally, the market was slow. The economy was slow. There was hardly demand. But December was just phenomenal from the history of our company. We did a number of records in terms of sales, in terms of delivery. And the delivery capacity that we have invested in really proved the worth that we invested rightly. We could deliver, on some days, even 10,000 tonnes of material. Nobody in the country can do that. So that is our strength. Logistics-wise, every day, on the road, there are like 1,000 vehicles with our materials, whether raw materials or whether finished goods. 1,000 vehicles every day are on the road with BSRM materials. So this is our strength. We can manage this logistics. When we -- as we -- in our industry, as we grow, managing the supply chain is very, very important. Not only we manage in our logistics 1,000 vehicles a day, we even manage 3 or 4 bulk vessels at the port. We manage -- we import 15,000 containers every year at the port. So we are very, very strong. So this is our big strength. We have a very, very strong risk management system in our company. And we have worked with -- in the past, we have worked with likes like KPMG from abroad and created a whole enterprise risk management system in our group. We have a Chief Risk Officer. On a regular basis, we analyze our risks. We plan mitigation measures. So these kind of systems help us to have the lowest probability of a potential problem. And we want to ensure that in future also, we have thought about all possible risks and planned mitigation measures. We are very strong on HR. A number of times, we work with foreign consultants in making sure that our people and our whole management system, our whole organization structure is so strong and so well defined that we are able to operate in a very, very smooth manner. As we have grown, the country has also grown. So when the country grows, most people -- if you see around, most companies -- most people, most companies have grown. We as individuals have grown over the last many years. But this growth -- the biggest issue with this growth is not that you are growing. The biggest challenge of this growth is managing this growth. How are we managing this growth in terms of efficiency? How are we managing this growth in terms of keeping our cost in control? Because when we grow, it's very easy to be complacent. Oh, everything is nice, everything is beautiful. Sales are happening, profits are coming. And then, it's a very big tendency not to pay attention on some important aspects of the business at that time. So we have all these systems in place where, while the growth is given, how we manage the growth is very, very important. So through HR, through organization restructuring, through defining very clear roles, having a good performance management system and these kind of things, including IT, we have been -- we continuously invest in IT. We can track our trucks, where they are. We have apps within our organization. We have apps for the salespeople. All our customers are getting SMSs in every way. All our dealers, our customers, they have an app or they can -- through the website, they can check their ledger, how the account is and every -- and wherever we go, whenever we meet customers, they are so, so appreciative. This kind of system is the best that, that is in our industry. And this is not the end. We keep on improving. So we have plans to even continuously invest in our IT. We have always been innovative. That is also our very, very big strength. We always bring in new things. Not only we have been innovative from our branding perspective, from our IT perspective, we've also -- we've been very innovative in our product perspective. We are the only company who produces these epoxy-coated bars. So this is very important to avoid rust in a steel, and this epoxy coating, it improves the lifespan of any structure that is built, especially near saline water. Our industrial area, if you -- any of you who -- whenever you are visiting Chittagong, you're most welcome to visit our plants in Mirsarai and other plants. You will be really, really happy to see what we have created there. Our industrial park is really worth seeing. And the way we have invested, when you see that, our industry, you will realize what effort we have put in, what investment we have put in and where all the money that we make in terms of profits, whatever, we retain within the company, where does this go? What are we investing and how it will help the future of the company? Our objective is always in our mind to be sustainable. Environmentally, we are very strong. We are the only company in our steel industry that is listed on the Bloomberg's index for ESG. We have also done -- you may have noticed in the video that was shown earlier, we have also invested in river water intake system to avoid using of tube wells in the plants. So we have laid a 6-kilometer pipeline. Then we have had a whole -- we bought some land next to the Feni River, taking all relevant government permissions to take in water, process it and then put it in the plant. So even the river water, you can't use it directly, but we have set up a whole plant to process the water and make it usable for the plant use. We are also very big on safety. We have this ISO 45001, which is the safety. Generally, companies have ISO 9000, but [ 45000 ], very, very few companies have. It's very difficult to achieve also, and we have done it. And we -- and so, from a safety perspective, we keep on focusing on safety, and we keep on improving on our safety numbers. We are the largest power consumer in Bangladesh. So we -- I think it's BDT 1.2 billion, no -- so every month on an average, we pay BDT 120 crores in electricity bills. So we are a very, very important consumer to PDB. And if there is any issue that the power has to reduce or there is load shedding, we are hardly affected because in our system, there is no system loss. Average system loss of PDB is 11%. Ours is like next to 0%. There's only technical line loss, which is like point-something-percent. So if they close us, they lose. If they close our power, their average system loss will go up of the region. So when we pay our bills from that cash flow, their whole salaries are paid. So -- and we have our own substation directly connected to the grid. So basically, we never ever have a load shedding. And we can run our plants on a continuous basis. Sometimes if there's a crisis, especially like during Ramadan, during Iftar and Sehri, the government wants to ensure that there is electricity for the citizens of the country. At that time, they request us, can you reduce the load a little bit? That's it. But there is no system of turning off power because that system is with us. Nobody can turn off our power until we want to turn off our power. So that's a very, very big strength we have. We have a very good reputation also within the government. We are the highest taxpayers in our -- in the engineering category. Every year, we are getting an award. On an individual basis, our family is amongst the top taxpaying families in the country, together all of us. And we've gotten awards also. Last year, 3 members of our family got top taxpayer awards. Our objectives from a business perspective are very clear. Our mind is very clear, where we want to go, where we want to be, how we want to take this business further. We want to keep growing as the economy grows. And to grow for future -- as the economy keeps growing, to grow, we need capital, and that is why we retain always capital in our books because in future, we need to invest. Like say, for example, the latest project that we have done, we didn't have to raise any equity. We didn't have to do any rights shares. It was around BDT 2,100 crore project. No right shares were needed. We could just take that portion of debt, and balance, we could do it with our own funds. And we've just recently commissioned the plant and also declared commercial production for the new 600,000 tonnes rolling mill. We are very compliant, and our team, led by our Group CFO, Mr. Shekhar, and the whole team, we make sure that we are compliant to all the rules and regulations or all the governing and statutory institutions in the country. We have a very professional management, and we ensure that we run the company as professionally as possible. As I said earlier, we have invested over last many years into a number of internal HR restructuring projects and also related HR projects. Our strength is that we are the best quality producer. We call ourselves best quality producer not because that, okay, we can comply to standard. In our industry, the biggest challenge is to produce quality in a consistent manner. Today, you can have good quality, maybe tomorrow not. So making this whole process consistent is the biggest challenge in our industry. And we are proud to say that we are the best quality producer in the country. And many, many foreign contractors, when they are doing projects, some of the projects, we end up being a major or a sole supplier because our material, when it's sent abroad, is always passing the test. The process that we have used for steelmaking with the electric induction furnace and then processing further at the electric ladle furnace and then making the billets from the continuous casting machine is the cheapest possible process for making steel in good quality way. So we have the advantage as a company of being the lowest-cost producer. And that gives us the strength that if we are doing bad in any quarter, it means the whole industry will be bad. So if we -- if the rest of the industry is doing okay, we'll be doing better. So we have taken the company -- and we want to maintain this. So we are always focused on how to be more and more efficient. We lead on that, and we want to maintain that leadership in future. We will keep -- from a business objective perspective, we will keep the journey on digital transformation. We keep on adding good IT solutions. IT, it is a very, very expensive subject. Even I'm sure a lot of you are in brokerage houses. Even if you want to -- with all these back-office software, OMS, wherever you touch anything in IT, it is expensive. But there is no other way. We have to keep investing. So we have defined a journey that we keep investing on the IT with clear deliverables, where we want to go, where we want to reach. So, that will continue in future. That creates a very big differentiation for us in the market and in the industry. And together, we have this vision, which comes especially more strongly from our Chairman, of doing CSR activities. We will keep on doing -- we believe we have -- from values and from a belief perspective, while we are working in anywhere, we believe that we also need to support and do all these CSR activities, support the people in need, support the community, and that makes us feel being part of the community. And while the company does all these activities, shareholders are part of it. So the blessing is shared by all. And it is such -- when we see these benefits trickle down and see the results, it gives us immense pleasure. So we will keep on doing such activities. And we have a vision, with also these 3 medical clinics, we will keep on that mission. And we will keep -- continue to perform on social as well as, of course, on the business side. We have very, very clear objectives where we want to go. In future, we want to grow more. We have now extra capacity to grow more. The reason we have created extra capacity because earlier, we were running on 100% capacity. There has been a discussion or also a lot of news, okay, market is down. Yes, after the uprising and the change of the whole political situation in the country, market was tight. Economy was slow. And it is just not for our industry. You see any industry, everybody was slow. FMCG, pharma, every sector was slow. But we already see things changing. As I said earlier, December was a record month for us. Highest revenue that we have ever done in our history was December. Highest sales we have ever done in our history was December. It was phenomenal. Highest production that we've ever done was in December. So we are already seeing that slight turnaround is happening. The industry that we are, we get the feeling of the economy much, much earlier than when the statistics come out. So we get a very, very good idea. Already, we are seeing the trend is changing. And then, eventually, you will see the numbers when they come out, when the government declares. So we see a bright future for the country. The country has gone through a big change. There is no doubt. Any big change has a cost. We are all paying for it. But this will change. And we are confident, as we grow, as we pass this time, what we have created, our whole internal ecosystem with IT, HR, our logistics, our whole organization, the way we have created, we are ready to grow, and we are ready to support whatever the requirements are of the country at any time. So, that is a big, big advantage for us. So, thank you very much, everybody, who is present here and also online. We wish you the best of luck. And let's hope, overall, especially the momentum and the passion for stock market improves in future. It's a bit dull right now. There is no doubt. But we think that things will improve in future. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Now it is my honor to invite Mr. S.M. Nurul Karim, CFO of BSRM Steels Limited, to present the second quarter financial results and key achievements.

[Foreign Language] And very good evening to everyone. [Audio Gap] [Foreign Language] And very good evening to everyone. Honorable MD sir, our Chairman sir, Head of Finance, Head of Internal Audit and distinguished guests in this room [Foreign Language]. So, today, I am presenting our quarterly and half yearly financial performance of BSRM Steels Limited. So this is our BSRM [ values ]. We, BSRM Steels, started our journey since 2008 by setting up a fully-automated rolling mill, which has capacity [ 3.75 lakhs ] metric ton. So we have always increased our capacity based on our market demand, along with our [ relative ideas ]. The rolling capacity of our [indiscernible]. We have installed another rolling mill in Mirsarai, which capacity is 6 lakh metric ton and which is the first-ever wire rod mill in our country. So these are our values. We will have a [indiscernible] values. So this is our half yearly and quarterly financial position. So look at the figure. Our sales increased by almost 25%, and comparing the previous year, and sales [ in figure ] also increased by 12%. We have achieved a net profit after tax, [ BDT 175 crore ], which is higher when compared to the previous year. So here, one financial expense -- I have highlighted one financial expense, which is reduced by 25%. So in financial expense, there are 2 components. One is our [indiscernible] and another one is our interest on time loan. So [indiscernible] and management decision is, we are booking [indiscernible] we achieve gain in foreign currency portion. And on the other side, our interest cost is higher. But ultimate result is our finance cost reduced by 25%. Our net profit margin also increased. EPS and [ net asset value margin ] also increased compared to the previous year. This is our production excellence. So the 2019 and '20 is the [ profitable ] year. Other than the last year, all 4 years -- so all 4 years, we achieved our highest production. So these are the figures. Our highest day production is 2,938 metric ton in a day. Our monthly highest production is 83,661 metric ton. And yearly highest production is 920,257 metric ton. Last 6 months, July to December 2024, we have produced 423,628 metric ton. So we already achieved our target. This is our rolling capacity versus capacity utilization. So look at the figure. We always achieve our capacity. Our rolling capacity is now 8 lakh metric ton, and we have achieved always more than 100%. So from July 2024, we have set up new rolling mill, which capacity is 6 lakh metric ton and trial production already done. And by this July to December, we produced 108,000 metric ton in our new rolling mill. This is our -- these figures denote our sales. We also achieved our target in all the years. We highlighted some figures here. Our group's highest delivery in a day, which is 6th January 2025, 10,507 metric ton, highest delivery in a day. And our group's highest delivery in a month, which is December, MD sir already informed earlier, 223,466 metric ton. And again, we have crossed this quantity in January as well, January '25. Our sales for last 6 months is 469,947 metric tons. This is our revenue in million, as well as U.S. dollar. So all figure -- we have always achieved our target. And the highest collection in December, BDT 14,444 million, highest collection in a month. If we -- and in USD, it is USD 116 million. July to December, our revenue is BDT 40,715 million. This is our total asset figure, last 5 years. So if we compare with 2019-2020, we have achieved 50% growth in our total asset. By this December 31, the asset goes to BDT 100,000 million. This is our net profit after tax for last 5 years. And July to December, our net profit after tax is BDT 1,755 million. Our earnings per share shows our company's growth. And in July to December half year, our earnings per share is BDT 4.67. This is our price/earnings ratio, which is much lower compared to our other company in market. And P/E ratio also reduced, December 2024, 5.46. So this is a low risk for investor as the P/E ratio is below 6. This is our rate of dividend year-wise. We are maintaining a sustainable dividend policy. So our company is in expansion mode, and we are introducing new company. So, from retained earnings, so we use the fund to enlarge our factory, our capacity enhancement. So we are maintaining a sustainable dividend policy. This figure shows the contribution to our national exchequer, which includes the utilities, duty, tax, VAT. Last 6 months, we have contributed to our national exchequer BDT 6,860 million. This is our market share price per share. At 31st December, the price was BDT 50. So here is a comparison we are giving for you, net asset value versus market price per share. So look at the figure here. Our net asset value -- 2025 net asset value per share is BDT 81, while the market price goes down to BDT 51. So here is a huge opportunity to investors to invest here. This is another presentation for net asset value, total net asset value and market capitalization. Here also, there is a big gap, our total asset value, net asset value and market capitalization. So, this is our new rolling mill, which is installed, Mirsarai. Installed capacity is 5 lakh metric ton rebar and 1 lakh metric ton wire rod. Commercial production declaration has started from 1st January 2025. Till July to December, we have continued our trial production, and we have produced best-quality steel here. Till December, we have produced 108,000 metric ton in this plant. And this wire rod mill is Bangladesh's first wire rod mill in our country. This is the first wire rod mill in the country. This is the insights and figures in our factory -- new factory. So this is the wire rod production process. This is the first trial of wire rod production in our factory. And in the first trial, we have successfully produced and maintained the quality here. This is the finishing line video. Our -- this factory integration ceremony on 1st February, and here are some pictures we have shared with you. So why should we choose BSRM Steels Limited? Our net asset value is higher than the market price; low risk for the investor as ratio below 6; we are maintaining a sustainable dividend policy; and continuous growth of shareholders value with more than 100% capacity utilization in all of our factories. So, thank you very much for your belief and trust. The #1 in steel [indiscernible] BSRM. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Mr. Nurul Karim. Next, we'll also hear from MD, Omar Faruq, FCA, CFO of our Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd as he provides insights into the group performance and achievements.

Honorable Board of Directors, shareholders, and beloved stakeholders, good evening. As the leading steel manufacturer in Bangladesh, BSRM continue to set benchmark in the industry. Our unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability has enabled us to maintain strong financial performance year after year. We are the market leader with 73 years of exclusive experience and holding highest market share with the biggest supply chain network in the steel industry of Bangladesh. We have the largest billet making plant in Bangladesh. We have the strong brand reputation. For the 12th consecutive times, we are getting Best Brand Award in the Steel Sector. We invested in the advanced technology and innovation, resulting we produce our goods fully automatic way. We always follow a customer-centric approach with highest quality assurance. Let's look at the financial result of our Q2 2024-'25. Our strong financial result for Q2 '24-'25 reflect our resilience and ability to capitalize on market opportunities. We achieved a remarkable 16% increase in sales volume and a 7.85% rise in EPS and a 6.05% growth in NAV compared to the half year of last year. These numbers reinforce our operational excellence, strategic pricing, and ability to meet growing demand efficiently, key reasons for our strong growth, including expansion in key market segments, improved operational efficiencies and cost optimization, and sustainable pricing strategy to mitigate input cost volatility. The chart of production quantity represents the backbone of BSRM operational excellence, our consistent growth in production volume over the years. Despite market challenges, BSRM maintained a strong production level year after year, demonstrating resilience and efficiency. BSRM's consistently high capacity utilization translates into higher profitability, reduced production cost, and stronger revenue streams, making BSRM an undeniable leader in the steel industry. For investors and shareholders, this is a clear indicator of a high-performing growth-driven company, one that not only meet demand but consistently exceed expectation. With BSRM, you are investing in a company that delivers more with less and is poised for even greater success in coming years. Let's find details about BSRM production success. BSRM production success is not just about numbers. It's about strategic vision, operational excellence, and market leadership. Our journey toward unstoppable production growth is driven by the key pillars of process optimization efficiency, capacity expansion, a strong market demand, and a reliable supply chain. By streamlining operations and integrating advanced technologies, BSRM has significantly enhanced productivity, reducing waste, and improving cost effectiveness. Our ability to produce more steel with optimized resources has been a game changer, allowing us to maximize output without compromising quality. Record-breaking sales collection in December 2025 (sic) [ 2024 ]. December 2024 marked a historic milestone for BSRM as we achieved our highest-ever monthly sales collection of BDT 7,221 million. This record reflects our robust market demand and extensive distribution network and our ability to ensure seamless supply chain management. We are consistently meeting the evolving needs of Bangladesh infrastructure sector with precision and excellence. Key success factor of BSRM's strong consistent sales, a well-established nationwide supply chain and dealer network, a strategic partnership with construction and government project, strong brand [ repositioning ] and customer loyalty. BSRM's total asset reflect its financial strength, investment potential, and long-term sustainability. At BSRM, our asset base has grown significantly over the year. So what does this mean for investors? BSRM assets growth highlight its ability to invest in future expansion and maintain financial resilience. A solid asset base ensures strong borrowing capacity, funding for new project, and long-term operational sustainability, and BSRM Limited has no term loan in their balance sheet. Currently, debt-to-equity ratio is only 3.85, which is far below than market other peer company. Despite market fluctuation, BSRM has demonstrated financial strength, making it a reliable and secure investment choice. Let's talk about one of the most critical indicator of BSRM's strength, that is revenue growth. BSRM's financial journey over the year showcase resilience, market leadership, and strong business fundamentals. BSRM reported a revenue of BDT 39,760 million in half year of '24-'25, fully aligned with the '23-'24 actual annual figure. So let's find what does this mean for the investors. BSRM is a growth-driven company with a proven track record of financial strength. We have a resilient business model that adapt to market changes while maintaining a strong profitability. With continued infrastructure development, BSRM remains the leading choice in Bangladesh steel industry. Let's talk about the main reason behind BSRM high revenue growth, strong market demand. The surge in infrastructure and construction project has significantly increased the demand for steel. BSRM's targeted marketing campaign and a strong client relationship have led to improved sales performance. BSRM's efficient supply chain and dealer network ensure seamless product availability across market. BSRM's strong brand reputation for quality and reliability has increased buyer confidence and repeat business. Over the first year, BSRM has demonstrated resilience and strategic growth with net profit rising from BDT 922 million in '19-'20 to BDT 4,323 million in '23-'24. Despite challenges like market volatility, rising cost, the company maintained profitability through operational efficiency, cost optimization, and market expansion. Up to Q2 '24-'25, we have already achieved BDT 2,011 million, indicating a strong momentum. With continued innovation and strategic planning, BSRM is well positioned for sustainable growth in the coming years. The trend of EPS highlights BSRM's ability to navigate economic fluctuations while maintaining shareholder value. The increase in '23-'24 EPS suggests a strong financial position and growth potential. In the Q2 '24-'25, we have already achieved EPS BDT 6.74, trending the annualized figure of '23-'24. So BSRM's future outlook remains strong with improving operational efficiencies. Let's look at key drivers of our strong, stable, and remarkable profit surge. We always optimize procurement strategies to minimize cost and ensure stable supply. A strong sales performance, consistent demand and strategic market positioning drive revenue growth. We have a robust distribution network, secured a market leadership. Financial discipline and strategic investment. We always follow prudent financial management strategies to improve margin and strength and stability. Our smart capital allocation drive sustainable growth. Smart raw material sourcing, we follow diversified sourcing and strategic procurement strategies to ensure cost control. We ensure secure supply chain stability for uninterrupted production. BSRM's lower price-earning in recent years suggest that BSRM earnings have strengthened, offering a strong return potential. Moreover, a 5.54 price-earning ratio in today's market indicates that an attractive valuation suggesting that the stock is reasonably priced compared to its earning. So we believe with Bangladesh infrastructure growth, increased demand for construction materials, and government-backed project, the company's earning potential remains strong. BSRM's strong NAV growth reflect a solid asset base, profitability, and resilience, presenting a golden opportunity for investors. Let me walk you through why this is the right time to grab the strong, stable, and profitable investment opportunity. Proven financial growth. BSRM's financial strength is undeniable. Over the first years, our NAV has surged significantly reflecting our strong financial health, disciplined management, and continuous value creation for shareholders. Stable and resilient investment. The steel industry is often subject to volatility, but BSRM has maintained market price stability and finance resilience even in challenging times. As Bangladesh's largest and most trusted steel producer, BSRM continued to lead the industry with cutting-edge technology, efficient operation, and strategic expansion. We are not just producing steel, we are building a stronger Bangladesh. At BSRM, we prioritize shareholders' return through consistent and stable dividend. We always follow consistent dividend payout. Despite market fluctuation, economic shift, and global challenges, BSRM has consistently rewarded its shareholders with dividend. Commitment to shareholder value. BSRM's dividend policy is not just about payout. It's a testament to our long-term commitment to shareholder value. BSRM is proud to be a significant contributor to the national economy. Our payment in duty, tax, VAT, power and gas contribution directly support the country's development and infrastructure growth. As a responsible corporate entity, we believe that our success must translate into national progress. Our key contributions, consistent tax contributions boosting the national economy, compliance with all government regulations and ethical business practices, support for national infrastructure project through steel supply. Our both listed companies and directors of BSRM was honored with the highest taxpayer award in the steel industry for financial year '22-'23. This recognition underscores our commitment to transparency, compliance, and responsible business conduct. We take pride contributing to the nation's economic development through ethical business practices. BSRM is playing a pivotal role in Bangladesh infrastructure evolution through our landmark megaprojects. These initiatives align with the national growth objectives and enhance structural safety and durability in key development projects. At BSRM, we are committed to building a safer Bangladesh. Our highest strength steel solutions are designed to meet international safety standards, ensuring durability and reliability in every project we undertake. Beyond business, BSRM is dedicated to uplifting communities through impactful CSR initiatives. Our effort focused on education, healthcare, and social development, ensuring that we create meaningful changes in society. Key CSR contributions, including supporting educational program and scholarships, funding healthcare facilities and medical initiatives, promoting environmental sustainability through green practices. BSRM believes in creating long-term social impact. Our CSR program empower individuals, enhance community wellbeing and foster economic inclusion. Major CSR programs, vocational training for youth development, infrastructure development in rural areas, and emergency relief and disaster response programs. BSRM's contribution to BRAC University has led to the renaming of the School of Engineering in our honor. These initiatives will foster advanced research, modern pedagogy, and innovation in engineering education. Besides financial performance, BSRM always gives strong emphasis on nonfinancial performance matters like commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. Sustainability is at the heart of BSRM's business model. Our operations prioritize ecofriendly practices, ensuring that our growth does not come at the cost of environmental responsibility. Let's look at some sustainability initiatives of BSRM. Green manufacturing and energy efficiency. We adopted energy-efficient technology and consistently invest in renewable energy. Sustainable raw material sourcing. We always follow ethical sourcing and ESG compliant supplier partnership. Community development and employee well-being, we promote social and employee education, healthcare, and workplace safety initiatives. Environmental protection and circular economy. We do recycling, waste reduction, and ecofriendly operations. For recognizing this for the first time in Bangladesh in the steel sector, BSRM's ESG initiatives was highlighted internationally by Bloomberg in 2024. So why should invest in BSRM? Consistent performance and market leadership, long-term growth opportunities and financial stability, attractive valuation compared to the earnings. BSRM's journey is one of resilience, growth and impact. As we continue to lead the steel industry, we remain committed to innovation, sustainability, and national development. Our strong financial performance reflect our strategic vision, operational excellence, and unwavering dedication to quality. Moving forward, we will continue to drive progress, create value for our stakeholders, and contribute to building a stronger Bangladesh. Thank you for your continued trust and support in BSRM.

Thank you, Mr. Omar. Now the floor is open for discussion. [Foreign Language] So I would request to our Group Company Secretary, Mr. Shekhar Ranjan Kar, FCA, to take forward from here.

Thank you, [ Sajid Iqbal ]. Very good evening. Really, really, we are very pleased to see all of you in this today's business conference on our second quarter financial presentation. Previously, we have organized 2 seminars on these issues, but we did not get any response from our shareholders, investors, or our trading houses. Now and today, really, we are very happy to see all of you. Our management should give a big clap for that. And if you support us in this way, obviously, at the end of each quarter, we shall organize this seminar, and you will learn many from us, you will see our efficiency, you will see our capacity, you will see our growth, as well as you will see our future investment planning. Though many of us raised their questions through online regarding dividend, this is already discussed and mentioned by our Chairman as well as MD. We have to maintain a steady dividend policy for the development and growth of the company. If we pay more dividend, our sponsored directors will get about 70% to 80% dividend. So if we want to keep our growth and momentum, we have to keep a certain portion as retained earning for future investment. Being steel industry is a capital-intensive industry. We need huge investment. Latestly, [indiscernible] which we invested for our new rolling mill where 5 lakh tonne rod and 1 lakh tonne wire rod and 2,50,000 tonne billet we are producing, here total investment size was BDT 2,200 crores. And believe it, our only equity contribution is 11%. Balance is foreign loan and long-term loan. So everybody trust us, I hope our shareholders, our investors, our security houses, our merchant bank also they trust us. Now I raise some questions which come through online. Number one question, question or just observation. We congratulate BSRM management for organizing a business conference to inform shareholders about their performance, that is second quarter financial performance and inform investors about future strategy that is raised by [ Island ] Securities. Next one question for which our MD will give answer. We have been witnessing the continuous growth of your business. This industry seems promising by seeing your growth. What about the competition as being in such a promising sector? What is the future of the industry and BSRM? Please.

From an industry growth perspective, overall, the industry has been growing and BSRM has been growing, and you have seen our growth over the past years. Our perspective is that, as I said also in -- when I was talking earlier, we see that there will be an economic turnaround. We see some hints of it already. And going forward, the country that we are, if you see our infrastructure, yes, last 15 years, a lot of infrastructure has been developed. But when you travel abroad, you see the infrastructure there, and we compare ourselves, we are nowhere. There is no way we can go down. We only need to go up. While going up, only the speed is the matter, how fast we are going up. So there will be growth in future, the kind of population we have, the kind of status of the current economy, yes, there will be growth. And in terms of -- obviously, there is competition in our industry. So competition is a good thing for the industry. It keeps everybody running. And being leaders in the sector, it keeps us motivated to keep doing better and keep improving ourselves to maintain our leadership position. So when the market grows, economy grows, everybody will grow. So obviously, we will grow also. So that is my perspective.

Another observation was your competitors are going for foreign listing. What is your plan? What is your thinking? First, we should develop our own market, domestic market. If we can create our market, if we have [ developed ] our own share market, then we shall be able to manage funds for industry for our growth, for our development. If there is any scope, we should obviously go to the foreign markets. Another question for our MD. Why BSRM cannot be one of the leading manufacturer of steel in the world? Lack of vision, desire of top management or something else? Please explain. Please., MD.

When you talk about the capacity, capacity of steel industry is determined on the market that you are serving. So Bangladesh is still in the LDC category. The total market size is very, very small compared to many other countries. Our per capita steel consumption is maybe around 45 kg, where many other countries are like 200, 300 kg per capita. So our size is small. So that is determined of capacity. So capacity-wise, you don't want to compare any industry because it is really dependent upon the local market. But when you talk about technology, when you talk about efficiency, we are recognized in the world. We are one of the best in the world. Our plants are benchmark plants in the world. Very, very few plants achieve what we achieved in terms of cost and in terms of efficiency. We are a reference plant in the whole region. Our suppliers who have supplied us the technology, they bring in customers from abroad when they are selling technology or marketing their technology to other countries. As reference visit, we get many, many visits from abroad. So we are -- from a world perspective, we are a very, very respected, highly-valued company in the world. And we've also gotten innovation awards also how we have achieved. For example, first time in the world, we did 5 slit rolling. So this is a very technical term. Just to explain in a very simple manner. From one billet that you may have seen in the video, that square billet, which is the raw material for the rebar production, so from 1 billet, we make 5 bars together. So this was developed jointly by us and a company from Italy, which is called Danieli, which is one of the best in the world for steel technology. And together, we developed it. And for that, we've gotten an innovation award also abroad. So we are actually very, very well known across the world. Most steel industry players know our name, and we are proud to say that BSRM makes Bangladesh shine internationally.

Now please, floor is open for all. You can discuss, you can raise your questions. Our both CFOs described very briefly, very [ designly ] they have described our accounts and financial position, [indiscernible]. So you can now discuss -- you can raise your questions. Thank you very much.

Greetings from UCB Stock. We saw both of the company's accounts and valuation was pretty attractive. I'm Nafis Zaki, research associate. So my question is for BSRM Steel specifically. So we saw a significant shift from short-term loan to long-term debt. Is it going to increase future financial expenses like we saw a decline in financial expenses in the current quarter. So what's the trend you are likely to see in BSRM Steel? It's a very attractive valuation, but it's an interesting question I had.

Your question is regarding conversion of short-term loan to long-term loan, financial expenses. We took about [ USD 108 million ] foreign loan plus BDT 800 crores, both are term loan. This interest, we have already capitalized up to December because we have started our commercial production from 1st January 2025. And on 2025, we shall capitalize our all asset and then all financial charge will be charged as expense against profit. Okay? Thank you.

This is Galib from Shanta Securities. So I have a follow-up question on that. So in this high interest rate scenario, why your company choose to convert short-term loan to long-term stock? Whereas maybe the interest rate will fall maybe in 6 months to 1 year. So do you think it's an appropriate time to convert the short-term loan to long-term loan?

No, I think there's a misconception. We have not really converted short into long. You have to realize in BSRM Steels, we have done a new project, which now we have declared commercial production on 1st of January. And then this whole long-term loan is for the new project. So that's why you see the increase in the long-term loan perspective. The short-term increase because we ran through a brilliant strategy for this whole changeover, political changeover period, and this strategy has paid off very well. We realized when these things are changing, economy will be down. And obviously, with the new whole Central Bank management, they will go forward with the right economic theory to control inflation and all that. So interest rates were meant to go up. There was no doubt about it. So what we did over time was that as the overall market was also not growing, rather from an industry perspective, there was negative growth. We were exceptional that we did not suffer that because we were prepared for it. And as I said that earlier also, we have all these risk management, and we run these scenarios what will happen if we do that. So we are very clear on what we need to do if anything happens. So what we did was we started to reduce our inventory levels from like September. So that's why you see a reduction in short term. So we reduced -- so at the end of the day, you see our result compared to the overall market scenario, which there was in the first 6 months in our country, I think from that perspective, we have done phenomenal. We have done really well. And this was the main reason being our strategy, we reduced our inventory because we wanted to control our financial cost very well.

Another question. Three questions, all are linked. You have shown that -- your company has shown a brilliant growth in the revenue. Was it a isolated event for the BSRM or it's an industry-wide phenomena? And the second question is where actually the demand is coming from? As we know that public sector demand is almost near to 0. So is this the retail sector that's driving the growth? And the follow-up -- the link question would be my last question is on the margin. So we could see the margin has fallen substantially. Is it due to the price decrease or it's because of the cost increase like wage or anything else?

The margin is a combination of price and cost. When the market is not doing well, prices need to be -- you need to be aggressive with prices for getting the volumes that you need and also to maintain a position in the market. So as I said earlier, we have the advantage of being a cost leader. So we also have the advantage with pricing, especially when times are bad. So even in a bad time, we've done okay. And your earlier question was?

On industry perspective, we could see that BSRM has a phenomenal sales growth. Is it especially for the BSRM, or it was an industry phenomenon and where the growth is coming from retail or...

Up to November, there was no growth from the industry perspective, actually, there was negative. Probably, I think August, September, October, there was maybe minus 20%, minus 30% from market size perspective. And you also had a question where this growth is coming from. So yes, government spending is low, but you also have to realize with the changeover, the objective of the government was they want to see each and every project, evaluate whether it's worth, not worth, whether to continue it, whether to slow it down. So slowly projects have been trickled out. So trickled out meaning, go ahead. So some activity has started to happen. So up to November was bad. December there was a big change. But from our perspective, while these large infrastructure projects are important, we strive, we perform, we do well with generally our whole distribution sector. And if you see the remittances have been wonderful. So the remittances which drive the growth in all this construction, so everywhere. So while, okay, the projects are not happening, but we are seeing in small towns, villages, everywhere, there is construction going on. So we have -- as I said earlier, we have a very, very strong strength in distribution. We have presence across the country, whether it's with our warehouses or with our dealers or with our sales team presence. So we have really taken advantage of this situation. When the times have not been good, we have been able to perform decently.

Now it is 8:15. Can we close our session if there is no question or observation? [Foreign Language]

I have a question. My name is [indiscernible] from United Securities. What is your government and private sector sales ratio. In terms of if we consider the revenue, how much you sell to the government and to the private sector? My another question is, in the last 1 decade or in the last 4 or 5 years, we have seen, and it is said publicly that there are many projects which are taken unnecessarily, especially from the government side, big project. So after the regime change from the 5th of August, we are expecting these types of project will not come up in future. And what we can say from the fiscal space, if we see our foreign debt to GDP ratio or our foreign currency reserve status, we can expect new government will go for big project like before. So what is your projections about the growth of revenue in future? And are you worried about your new capacity, which is around 75% of the existing capacity of BSRM Steel? Yes.

No, no, it's 75% -- from only BSRM Steel, but from the both companies' perspective is...

[ BSRM integrated, yes. ]

Okay, yes. So we have already started to utilize our new plants. As you may have seen in the presentation, we have already produced quantities, and we have sold from there. In terms of our revenue percentage, government projects, while they look very grand and very beautiful, they are not as important for us, fortunately. So I think government projects when they were at peak, it was for us like maximum 20% of sales. So for example, I'll just give you an example. The biggest -- our whole infrastructure spending in the country, the branding was Padma Bridge. If you see from a brand infrastructure, Bangladesh, government showed Padma Bridge as an example of Bangladesh is changing, infrastructure spending is going on, so many things are happening. So it was Padma Bridge, Padma Bridge. Padma Bridge in total consumed, I think, around 90,000 tonnes of steel. Forget our new capacity. At our then capacity, it was less than 1 month of our production. So it's not -- for us, it's not as important, right? So our sales are driven by the general consumers, the private sector of the country. And that is where our brand plays a strong role. And that is where our image, our reputation, our so many years of service with our customer, the relationship that is what is important for us. Any other point you had in the few questions that I didn't answer?

Hello, I'm Safwan from EDGE Asset Management. I have got a couple of questions. First of all, what is the market share? What market share you have currently in the market, and who are the nearest competitor, and what's their market share? That's number one question. And my second question is, can you shed some light about the power cost? How much is actually the power cost? As a percentage of revenue, how much is it?

From a market share perspective, we have around 25%, and we have already over 22%, 23. Like we are around 25%. In terms of what the others are doing, I can't give you the exact number right now. Some are private. The listed ones, you can see yourselves. The private, we don't have the data access, but we just generally have a general idea. So in terms of the major producers in Bangladesh, it's us, then there is Abul Khair, there is KSRM, there is GPH. So these 4 have -- you combine these 4 would probably be around 60% or 55% to 60% market share total. And the second question was? Yes, so the power cost as a percentage of revenue, when we have to calculate or -- no, no, he wanted as a percentage of...

Just a rough estimate, how much is the power cost...

See, I will tell you, power cost is actually the biggest cost in the steelmaking, okay? So besides the main raw material, which is steel scrap that we import and other consumables, in terms of the other costs that we incur locally, power is the biggest cost. And to mitigate whatever slightly and also to comply to latest environmental standards, and also our objectives in mind, we are installing solar rooftops. So we've already done 3.2 megawatts. We keep on doing, and we have estimated if we do all our factory rooftop, we can do maybe nearly around 30 megawatts or something. So we will be on this solar journey also. And that whatever we can mitigate with green power, that will be very useful. And also going forward, from an environmental perspective, having all these green initiatives will pay off in future because even when any foreign contractors are working in the country, that will bring an advantage.

I have got another question. I saw that over the last 4 years, consistently, the capacity utilization was more than 100%, 110%. So how you are able to maintain that consistently running above capacity?

This is what I call what our Chairman said in his speech earlier. We dream steel, we think steel, we live steel, we talk steel, we do everything steel. Our strength is steelmaking. And what the international suppliers of technology, what nameplate they give to a steel production capacity, we have always beaten that, always. So as I said earlier, we are very, very well known in the whole world for being efficient. Not many companies in the world can do this. So we have from that experience of so many years of steelmaking, we have the knowledge, we have the expertise, we have the attitude, and we have the will to beat the average. So what the nameplate capacity is average. And we are not average. We will always be above average, and we want to remain in that zone always.

I am Fahmid Islam Sadhin, a research associate from UCB Stock Brokerage Limited. My question is regarding BSRM Steel. So if we see their last 12 months earnings and if we see the gross profit to sales ratio and if you compare it to the 2023 last 12 months, considering the percentage to gross profit to sales ratio, it has declined. And if I'm not wrong, scrap steel is a raw material of BSRM steel, right? So I've seen that scrap steel price have declined by minus 0.6% on an average basis. But the gross profit to sales ratio should have increased, but it declined. Could you please shed some light on this?

Look, there are 2 reasons for this. One is 2023, the market, the business was better from an economic perspective. 2024, we've all seen what has happened. There's a big change. So there's an economic effect, one, in 2024. Second, yes, scrap prices have gone down, but look at the depreciation of the currency. So we are reporting everything in taka. So because of that, the costs have actually gone up. So overall, the prices have adjusted over time with all this depreciation. But these are the 2 reasons of what you see, the GP ratio has gone down.

But I have another one question. That is, if we see the financial year 2024, the gross profit to sales ratio actually increased by 2% compared to the previous financial year. But why is that? In terms of financial year, the gross profit to sales ratio increased. But in the last 12 months -- if I see the last 12 months, we see the opposite picture. And if I'm not wrong, as of June 2024, scrap steel price was high. On an average, I believe it was 0.2% on an average. But in that scenario, BSRM still maintained expansion in their gross profit to sales ratio. So why this discrepancy, I'd like to understand this issue.

Basically, gross profit depends on selling price and raw materials price. It depends. If I have stock at low rate at the end of the year and if we can get more margin in the next year, automatically GP will be high. And if we not get that price, GP will be low. Based on the GP and other expenses, then net profit will come. So GP basically depends on selling price, our demand, as well as cost of raw materials. Thank you.

[Foreign Language] Salim Afzal Shawon here, Head of Research, BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage. Sir, you have been long time in this business, and you clearly understand the industry and the market a lot more than us analysts. So I would like to have some guidance on how you think this industry is going to grow in a 5-year horizon and in a 10-year horizon. And I have another question. So in terms of industry competition, you just mentioned like 4 players control about roughly 60% market share. But still, you are expanding your capacity, and I'm aware from public news that some other competitors are also expanding capacity. So is our industry currently facing overcapacity issue? Or the growth aspect that you see, would you be seeing capacity play wiped out by over competition. So just getting a sense on those 2 areas.

What was your -- sorry, what was your first question?

The industry growth projection from your side for a 5-and 10-year horizon.

So from a growth perspective, generally, this is the thumb rule worldwide is your steel demand is always 2 or 3 percentage more than your GDP growth. So if GDP is 5%, demand is expected to grow by 8%. So this is generally a thumb rule, and this is what we have seen over time what has happened in Bangladesh also. So this is how the industry has grown over time. So going forward, while we have economic growth, even we are -- everybody is saying, look, challenge in our country is if you see last 20, 25 years, every year, we have grown 6%, 7%. So we are used to a certain growth. Everybody is saying it's bad economy, bad economy. But still, we have 4% growth. You tell to the Europeans and all these people that we have 4% growth, they will be like, wow, right? So we are not used to a lower growth. This is our problem. So we have to adjust to this 4% level of growth. So growth is there. If you see our revenue, there is growth. So because of that, there is growth. Economy is growing, so we will also grow. There is no doubt about it. So we see that as an industry, we will keep growing. Our per capita steel consumption is still very, very low. So we will have to grow. We only see growth in future. Next 20, 30 years, there has to be growth in the country. Because you are saying overcapacity, right? Overcapacity is a permanent phenomenon. There has never been undercapacity in our industry. Never ever. Always overcapacity. And from our perspective, we see our capacity utilizations, what we have done. And this is how our philosophy and strategy has been throughout all these years. If we are running at full capacity, we have demand. So we need to improve ourselves. We need to increase our capacity and produce more. We have to care about our business. You see in other related industries also, whether it's cement or every -- in Bangladesh, where there is no overcapacity. Everywhere is overcapacity. So our industry is similar. There is overcapacity. So there will be pains eventually. This is part of the whole cycle that over time some -- we have been lucky because of our thinking, our philosophy, our values, our strategy, we are still on our third generation of steelmaking. We started 1952. But in the 50s whom we saw, are they here? No, they are not. In the 60s, there were many. Are they here? No. So we have seen the whole journey. So not everybody is able to survive for so long. So that is part of the moving and shaking of any industry.

Can I ask a question? Yes. Thank you for this session, first of all. I was just wondering, you mentioned that private sector expenditure for construction activities. What proportion of that comes from Dhaka and what proportion of that comes from outside Dhaka? Could you clarify?

See, if you see actuals, it depends what perspective you are asking. So there are 2 perspectives here. One perspective is who is placing the orders. So it will be mostly Dhaka. Where are the projects happening? They are outside Dhaka. So a lot of the projects are happening outside Dhaka. In Dhaka, there is no space to create large projects, except all these elevated expressway and metro rail, these are 2 big projects. But other than that, say, if you are making Rooppur Power Project, they are not placing the orders at the plant, they are being placed in Dhaka. So in terms of that, if you are seeing who's placing the orders, that's majority Dhaka. So that would be probably around 40% of the whole country. But in terms of consumption, Dhaka probably would be like 20%, 25%. This is my assumption, but I'm 100% not sure. But it's much lesser.

Okay. One more question. I was wondering, the private sector, the private expenditure on construction activities. Is it coming mostly from people wanting to build homes, people sending remittance money and trying to build homes in the country? Or is it private companies trying to build real estate? So where is the expenditure coming from?

See, one area is real estate, and you see all the developers making buildings, even individuals making buildings. Then a big portion is the driving of Bengali dream. What is the Bengali dream? [Foreign Language] that is the Bengali dream. Wherever you are working in the world, whether you are going to come and stay back or not, you want to make a house even if it remains empty, or you may give it on rent. But you want to make a house on your piece of land in your village. And that money always come -- whenever the money comes in, at least once in a lifetime, whichever worker is abroad, he wants to make a home because his extended family is there, right? So he will make maybe a 3-floor home, one floor the family will stay, 2 floor they will rent it out. So a lot of it is driving through the remittances. And from our perspective, what we have seen, these days, we are seeing, for whatever reasons, growth in remittances. So the Central Bank data is coming, remittance is growing. Remittance is always growing. So many people are going. When remittances are flat, when you see the flat number, it's actually not flat. It's just coming in an unofficial way. There is a growth in remit. The fact that we keep growing every year, and we keep selling more and more to small towns and villages, even when the remittance curve is flat, it just is coming unofficially. Money is coming, money is flowing. We can't really say what percentage is official and what is unofficial because that data we don't have of the unofficial. But when you see the consumption, money is flowing in the country.

Thank you for participating in the discussion. As we conclude today's event, it is my pleasure to invite [ Mr. Abdul Kader Johair ], third generation of BSRM family, to deliver the closing remarks. Please join me in welcoming him.

Hi, everyone. I hope you are feeling much more enlightened now than when you walked into the room about who BSRM is, what we do, and why we are here. So one key takeaway is if you're betting on Bangladesh, you can safely bet on BSRM. As you heard repetitively, we are tied very closely with the growth of the country, and we're here to stay. Also, a few key synonyms that you can probably associate BSRM to always is good ethics, good governance, sustainability, and of course, steel. So I would just like to personally thank you for coming here, for being a part of this lovely evening. Excellent questions, very insightful questions. And especially we'd like to thank representatives of Bangladesh Stock Exchange, Dhaka Stock Exchange, Chittagong Stock Exchange, NBR, a lot of merchant bankers, our brokers, everyone who is here. Thank you very much. Please keep coming to these events, supporting us so that like our CFO said, that we'd like to come every quarter. And we'd like to be here, we'd like to answer your questions. So thank you for supporting us, and please do keep supporting us. Now I'm sure it's almost 8:45. So I'm sure you all are hungry. So lunch is served, I believe. I mean, sorry, dinner. I'm running on a different clock, I guess. But yes, dinner is served, so please help yourselves. I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you.

Thank you all for being here today. Now let's enjoy a wonderful dinner together to celebrate this milestone. It will take 5 to 10 minutes time to serve the food, please. Thank you.