A long-established, near debt-free food company with strong cash flow and deep reserves — but its profit has stayed roughly flat over the last five years.

Olympic Industries is a food and consumer-goods company — best known in Bangladesh for its biscuits and confectionery — that has been listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange since 1989, more than 35 years. That long history means it has already lived through many ups and downs of the economy.

It is a sizeable business. Its yearly sales grew from about 1,803 crore taka in 2021 to about 2,593 crore taka in 2024, and it earned around 201 crore taka of profit in its latest year (2025). The company has 20 crore shares in the market, each with a face value of 10 taka.

Over the decades it has built up large savings — reserves of about 1,047 crore taka, more than five times its paid-up capital of about 199.9 crore taka. Recently it has been buying land and new machinery to expand its production, so it is still investing in growth.

Olympic earns its money the simple way: it manufactures packaged food products and sells them to shops and distributors across Bangladesh. Because these are everyday items that people buy again and again, demand tends to be steady rather than one-off.

Rising sales tell the story — revenue climbed from about 1,803 crore taka (2021) to about 2,144 crore (2022), 2,579 crore (2023) and 2,593 crore (2024). Selling more each year is the main engine of its earnings.

The company also controls parts of its own supply chain — recent board decisions to buy carton-making machinery suggest it makes much of its own packaging, which can help keep costs in hand. Turning those sales into profit, though, depends on managing raw-material and production costs, and that is where results can wobble, as they did in 2022.

Olympic makes a real profit every year. Its profit per share was 10.19 taka in 2021, dipped to 6.03 taka in 2022, then recovered to 7.78 taka (2023), 9.17 taka (2024) and 10.06 taka in 2025. In money terms, net profit went from about 203.7 crore taka (2021) down to 120.5 crore (2022) and back up to about 201.0 crore (2025).

The pattern is a dip-and-recovery rather than steady growth. Over the whole 2021-to-2025 span, both profit and profit per share are essentially flat — down about 1%. So the company earns roughly what it did five years ago, even though its sales rose over that time.

The 2022 dip is worth understanding: sales actually rose that year, but operating profit fell from about 242.6 crore taka to 143.0 crore, meaning higher costs squeezed the profit out of each sale. Profit has since climbed back, but this shows earnings can wobble when input costs rise.

This is one of Olympic's clearest strengths. It runs with almost no borrowing. For every 100 taka of its own money, it owed lenders about 18 taka in 2021, and by 2024 that had fallen to just about 5 taka — its total debt dropped from about 170.8 crore taka to about 54.4 crore over those years, and its company profile shows no outstanding loan.

It also generates plenty of cash from its operations — about 186.8 crore taka in 2021, and a strong 375.2 crore taka in 2024. Cash on hand grew to about 89.0 crore taka by 2024, and its own money (equity) rose steadily from about 923.9 crore to 1,066 crore taka.

An independent credit agency assigned the company its highest long-term rating ("AAA") with a stable outlook in late 2025 — a sign that outside experts also see it as financially very sound. With reserves of about 1,047 crore taka behind it, Olympic looks well able to survive a bad year.

Olympic has rewarded shareholders with a cash dividend in every one of the last five years, which shows a habit of sharing profit. On its 10-taka face value, it paid 54% (5.4 taka per share) in 2021, 45% (4.5 taka) in 2022, 60% (6.0 taka) in 2023, then just 10% (1.0 taka) in 2024, and 30% (3.0 taka) in 2025.

The catch is that the amount is not steady. The drop from 6.0 taka in 2023 to only 1.0 taka in 2024 was sharp, even though the company made good profit that year — it chose to keep most of its earnings, most likely to fund the land and machinery it has been buying. So this is a reliable payer, but not a predictable one for someone who needs a fixed yearly income.

The good news is that the current payout looks safe and easily affordable: in 2025 it earned 10.06 taka per share and paid out 3.0 taka, using less than a third of its profit. That leaves plenty of room, so the dividend is well covered even if profit dips.

Olympic's main advantage is longevity and financial strength. It has been selling to Bangladeshi consumers since 1989, and it runs its business with almost no debt and large reserves of about 1,047 crore taka — a cushion most competitors cannot match. Its owners are clearly committed: sponsor directors hold about 37.38% of the shares, and the chairman personally bought 1 crore (10,000,000) more shares in early 2026, which usually signals confidence.

The rest of the ownership is spread across institutions (about 22%), foreign investors (about 27.62%) and the general public (about 13%) — a broad, credible shareholder base.

Against its food-sector peers in this pack — such as Unilever Consumer Care, Lovello, British American Tobacco, PRAN's AMCL and Apex Foods — Olympic sits in the middle-to-upper group: it earns a healthy return on its owners' money while carrying far less debt than most. The honest caveat is growth: several of those peers grew their latest-year profit per share by double digits, while Olympic's earnings have been roughly flat over five years. Its edge is stability, not speed.

• Almost no debt. By 2024 it owed lenders only about 5 taka for every 100 taka of its own money (down from 18 in 2021), and its profile shows no outstanding loan — very little can go wrong from borrowing.
• Strong cash generation. It brings in solid cash from operations year after year — about 375.2 crore taka in 2024 — which can fund both dividends and expansion without needing loans.
• Deep reserves and top credit rating. Reserves of about 1,047 crore taka (over five times its paid-up capital) and a highest-grade "AAA" long-term credit rating give it a thick safety cushion.
• Long, trusted track record. On the market since 1989, with committed owners — sponsors hold about 37.38% and the chairman recently added 1 crore shares.
• Investing for the future. Recent purchases of land and new machinery show management is spending to grow capacity, not standing still.

• Flat earnings. Profit and profit per share are about the same as five years ago (down roughly 1% over 2021-2025), so the business has grown its sales but not its bottom line.
• Bumpy dividend. The payout swung from 6.0 taka per share (2023) to just 1.0 taka (2024) and back to 3.0 taka (2025) — not reliable for anyone who needs steady income.
• Costs can bite. In 2022, profit fell to about 120.5 crore taka even as sales rose, showing that higher input costs can eat into earnings quickly.
• Rivals growing faster. Several food-sector peers grew their latest-year profit per share by double digits while Olympic's stayed roughly flat, so it is not the quickest grower in its field.
• Expansion is unproven. The money going into new land and machinery may or may not pay off, and in the meantime it can hold back dividends, as it did in 2024.

Olympic Industries is the kind of company you hold for steadiness, not excitement. It is financially very strong — almost no debt, plenty of cash, big reserves and a top credit rating — and it has paid a dividend every year for at least five years. For a cautious, long-term investor who sleeps better owning a rock-solid balance sheet, it is a reassuring name.

The trade-off is growth and income predictability. Its profit has been flat for five years, and its dividend, while regular, jumps around from year to year. If you need a fixed, growing income or fast capital growth, this one may test your patience.

The single biggest thing to watch is whether its current expansion — the new land and machinery — finally lifts profit above the plateau of the last five years. Whether today's price is a good deal is a separate question, answered by the live value box beside this report, not here.