The 36th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the shareholders of IDLC Finance Limited was held on Wednesday March 31, 2021 virtually by using digital platform in compliance with the directives set by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), according to a press release.
In line with the directives of Bangladesh Bank, the Board of Directors placed revised proposal of dividend at the AGM and the shareholders approved 15 per cent Cash Dividend (Taka 1.50 per share) and 5.0 per cent stock dividend for the year 2020; a robust feat against the market trend and the prevalent pandemic adversity.
At the event, it was enlightened that on the back of strong governance framework and commitment towards customer-centric drive, IDLC continued to be the frontrunner in the financial market, and displayed resilient performance in 2020 (net profit of Tk 2,541 million), despite the ongoing pandemic and extremely challenging market conditions.
Aziz Al Mahmood, chairman, IDLC Finance Limited and other directors Atiqur Rahman, Nurullah Chaudhury, Mahia Juned, Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, Md. Kamrul Hassan, Syed Shahriyar Ahsan, independent directors Niaz Habib and Matiul Islam Nowshad, Managing Director and CEO of IDLC Finance, Arif khan were present at the meeting.
During speech, both chairman and the CEO and managing director welcomed the participating shareholders and thanked them for their continued sponsorship of IDLC. They highlighted how the financial performance was attained through prudent and timely strategic maneuvers that enabled the company to provide a return on equity of 17.37 per cent, without any layoff or salary cuts.
Arif Khan explained how the management saw opportunities in alternate investment channels that allowed booking of gains. Moreover, with improvement in the capital market in the latter half of the year 2020, the subsidiaries attained commendable returns. He also highlighted on the increase in robustness of the company as the total asset size of IDLC Group increased by 8.0 per cent reaching Tk 126.87bn at the end of 2020, which led to a strong return on asset of 2.08 per cent.
In addition, it was mentioned that despite the extraordinary circumstance, the company was able to maintain the loan book portfolio and attain a 1.0 per cent growth, on the back of unwavering stand on maintaining quality portfolio.