Carew and Company Limited has witnessed around Tk58 crore profit after paying taxes in FY23 as its distillery unit sold a record amount of 57.73 lakh proof litres of liquor during that period, according to sources at the company.
The company’s net profit last fiscal year was around Tk9 crore higher than its profit of around Tk49.17 crore in FY22, according to the company’s latest audit report.
The Carew and Company Managing Director Mohammad Mosharraf said the company has set a target of earning Tk100 crore profit in the current fiscal year.
Last fiscal year, all the units of Carew and Company – except for its sugar factory – witnessed profit. The company has been benefitting from the increased demand for liquor in the country since 2021 following the National Board of Revenue’s imposition of restrictions on importing alcohol.
It has six units – Sugar, Distillery, Pharmaceutical, Commercial Farm, Akandabaria Farm (experimental) and Bio-Fertiliser.
Carew’s production of sugar dropped significantly in FY23 due to threshing the lowest amount of sugarcane in the mill’s history.
If the company’s sugarcane cultivation is not increased, the future of its mill will be uncertain. So, the authorities have adopted various plans for sugarcane production, said officials concerned.
Carew’s mill produced 2,382 tonnes of sugar by crushing around 4.6 lakh tonnes of sugarcane in FY23 before it was closed due to a lack of sugarcane.
In FY23, the company’s distillery unit earned about Tk439 crore. After depositing around Tk145.50 crores in the government treasury, the unit posted around Tk152 crore profit.
Carew’s farms witnessed profit – around Tk20 lakh – last fiscal year after 30 years. The farm unit posted a loss of Tk 3.44 crore loss in FY22.
Carew and Company has 13 warehouses and three sales centres across the country.
Regarding the company’s loss-making sugar unit, he said, “We are working to increase sugarcane production to increase sugar production at its mill. Various initiatives – like increasing the price of sugarcane – have been taken to make the farmers interested in cultivating the crop.”
