British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Ltd (BATBC), the largest tobacco product maker in the country, witnessed a slowdown in its profit growth in the first nine months of 2023 mainly due to higher raw material prices and operating costs.

The company's net profit grew 2.3 percent year-on-year to Tk 1,355 crore in the January-September period of this year.

In the same period last year, BATBC posted 14.5 percent year-on-year growth, according to its unaudited financial statement.

The company said its net revenue after deduction of supplementary duty and value added tax (VAT) rose 10 percent to Tk 6,792 crore in the nine months.

However, its cost of sales (raw material prices) soared 20 percent during the period: from Tk 2,792 crore in 2022 to Tk 3,356 crore in 2023.

In the January-September period, the ratio of cost of sales of BATBC was 49 percent of its net revenue in 2023, up from 45 percent the previous year.

The tobacco maker's earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 25.11 in the period this year, up from Tk 24.52 a year ago, according to its financial statements released today.

The BATB said: "EPS increased from same period last year driven by volume growth, decline in net finance and current tax expenses partially offset by increased cost of sales and operating costs."

However, its EPS declined to Tk 7.52 in July-September period this year, down 1.2 percent year-on-year.

The BATBC registered a drop in its overall net sales in July-September period this year.

The company said its board also approved Tk 33.21 crore to establish rooftop solar panel with 3.2 megawatts of power generation capacity.

It also decided to have a stem pre-sizer unit along with its relevant infrastructure in FIBEX technology plant.

The investment in solar panel system would reduce 50 percent carbon-dioxide emissions as well as enable the company to generate half of its required electricity through renewable source.

"The investment in FIBEX technology plant would convert tobacco particles, which would have previously gone to waste into a usable raw material like tobacco leaf," it said.

The investment would be funded from internal sources and bank financing based on the cash flow of the company, according to the statement.