Rani Marka Dheutin (corrugated iron sheets) once ruled the roost in rural Bangladesh.

Now, in a puzzling turn of events, its producer Appollo Ispat Complex is on the verge of closure after a sponsor director allegedly embezzled money while a senior employee passed secret information of the company to its competitor.

It has already become a junk stock on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) as it fell into losses. The situation is so bad that the company now plans to ask for a bailout from the government and relief from banks to stay afloat.

“If the government extends a bailout package and we get a relief from banks for a few years to pay back loans, the company might become a profitable concern again,” said Evana F Mohammad, a director of the company.

The company has not asked the money from the government yet, she said.

Incorporated in 1994, it started the commercial journey by establishing a modern and sophisticated continuous galvanising line in 1997.

To meet growing demand, it set up another continuous galvanising line in 2002 and a cold-rolled manufacturing unit in 2005.

Appollo Ispat has a plant over 16.8 acres of land at Shimrail under Narayanganj district to manufacture CI sheets.

It also produces cold-rolled coil, galvanised plain sheet, corrugated galvanised iron and galvanising sheet from the imported hot-rolled coil.

As the company was logging higher profits, it went public in 2013 to raise Tk 220 crore at a premium of Tk 12.

A premium on stocks is defined as the number of extra money investors are ready to pay for the purchase of shares over the par value.

Appollo Ispat raised the funds to repay bank loans amounting to Tk 153 crore and establish a new galvanising plant with the rest of the money.

It introduced 60,000-tonne capacity advanced radiant tube furnace technology-based galvanising plant in April 2018 and the plant was expected to fetch half of the sales volume.

In Bangladesh, CI sheet and galvanised plain sheets are used for 81 per cent roofing and 42 per cent fencing in households in rural and semi-urban areas.

Thanks to higher demand, Appollo Ispat booked higher profits and a better rate of return and turnover until the 2015-16 financial year.

Evana blamed the wrongdoing of one director, Md Sirajul Haque, also a sponsor, for the fall of the company.

“He sold our land without informing the company. He sold 13 truck-loaded finished goods and ran away with the money.”

Haque shifted Tk 250 crore out of the company, she said, adding that they had filed a case against the person, who has fled to Canada.

A top official of Appollo Ispat passed the company’s confidential information to a major competitor as he was a relative of the company’s chairman, Evana said.

“We fell behind in competition,” she said.

The company has short-term loans of Tk 235 crore and Tk 70 crore in long-term loans as on 30 June 30 2018, according to DSE data.

Deen Mohammad lent Tk 152 crore in a personal loan to Appollo Ispat so that it does not become a loan defaulter.

Evana also sold more than 90,000 shares of City Bank to reschedule loans.

Every company has its ups and downs but it does not mean that the company has no potential, she said. “Don’t we deserve a chance to revive the company?”

The company, which got listed in 2013, needs Tk 700 crore to Tk 800 crore to make a comeback, according to Evana.

Deen Mohammad’s family had planned to wind up the business because of the trouble. “But my father loves it like a child and doesn’t want to close it,” she added.

Appollo Ispat’s factory and raw materials are now being used by Jalalabad Steel to manufacture its products.

The Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh has assigned the BBB3 rating to Appollo Ispat based on audited financial statements of the company up to 2019.

Companies rated in this category have adequate capacity to meet financial commitments but are more susceptible to adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances, according to a top official of a credit rating agency.

Stock investors are still puzzled how the well-performing, popular company became a loss-making venture.

Appollo Ispat’s shares closed at Tk 5.50 on the Dhaka bourse yesterday, up 7.8 per cent from the previous day.