Summit Alliance Port financial analysis: FY26 EPS BDT 2.61, 25% dividend, off-dock TEUs and forwarding (Oct 2026)

Investment considerations: a high-margin, nearly full export depot whose returns are diluted by revaluation, debt and a volatile forwarding arm

Summit Alliance Port Limited (SAPL) runs the largest private off-dock container depot serving Chattogram port. Its three bonded depots at Patenga, 6.5 km from the port's berths, sit on 53.33 acres (41.59 acres owned) with 725,171 sq ft of warehouses and yard space for about 7,866 TEU of containers at a time [1 p.6]. Exporters bring cargo to the depot, where it is stored, documented, stuffed into containers and trucked to the port; imports flow the other way, and shipping lines park their empty boxes in the yard [1 p.5]. In FY2025 SAPL physically handled export cargo worth USD 9.87bn, over a fifth of Bangladesh's USD 48.28bn goods exports [1 p.14].

Around that core sit a river terminal at Muktarpur near Dhaka, a terminal at Kolkata run under a 30-year concession from the Inland Waterways Authority of India, a newer Patna terminal, and a freight-forwarding subsidiary that has been Hellmann Worldwide Logistics' agent since July 2024 and is now 40% owned by Hellmann [1 p.29] [1 p.52] [1 p.169]. The listed company is controlled by the Summit group of Muhammed Aziz Khan and the Alliance group of the Rizvi family, which together hold 62.68% [10].

Business model: SAPL stuffs a fifth of Bangladesh's exports at Patenga, at regulated tariffs set against Chattogram port's chronic shortage of yard space

SAPL was set up in December 2003 in the Patenga industrial area and listed on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges in October 2008 [1 p.28]. It was the first private inland container depot in Bangladesh [1 p.15]. The business is simple in structure: Chattogram port has too little yard space to stuff export cargo or hold empty containers, so these jobs are done at private off-dock depots (members of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association, BICDA). Depots earn a regulated tariff per box for stuffing, VGM weighing, labour and transport to the port, plus daily ground rent on empty containers held for shipping lines [2 p.41].

Clients are the global lines and forwarders: Maersk, MSC, CMA-CGM, ONE, COSCO, Yang Ming, Kuehne + Nagel, Expeditors, DSV, Schenker and others [1 p.28]. Ready-made garments dominate the export cargo, which is why SAPL's fortunes track Bangladesh's export receipts. In FY2025 the off-dock industry's export volume rose 9.19% and import volume 17.71%; the directors say import volume would have been higher but for Chattogram Customs' 'dual-delivery' practice of releasing off-dock-designated imports inside the port [1 p.32].

Chattogram port itself is changing. The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) enforced its first broad tariff revision in decades from 15 October 2025, raising charges in 23 of 52 service categories by what CPA called an average 41% (TBS reported up to 41%), with the highest increase on container handling [11] [12]. On 17 November 2025 the Chittagong Port Authority signed a 30-year concession with APM Terminals to build and run the USD 550m Laldia container terminal [17] [18]. The directors point to the Patenga Container Terminal and the planned Bay Terminal as the fixes for the port's capacity shortage [1 p.33]. More berth capacity raises box throughput, which is what depots handle; terminals with their own yards could also keep more stuffing and storage inside the port, the risk the 'dual-delivery' complaint already shows.

Volumes and tariffs: export TEU at 89% of capacity, import TEU up 21%, and three tariff steps since 2023 carry depot revenue

The directors' report gives volumes for FY2024 and FY2025 [1 p.32]. Export containers handled rose from 122,499 to 133,764 TEU (+9.2%), import containers from 22,123 to 26,772 TEU (+21.0%), and empty-container storage from 2.17m to 2.28m container-days. Exports were 83.3% of laden TEU. On the capacity stated in the accounts (150,000 TEU of exports and 40,000 TEU of imports a year) the depots ran at 89% and 67% [4 p.49] [21]. The company passed 100,000 export TEU and 250,000 TEU of total handling as milestones [1 p.52].

Revenue per box fell in FY2025 even as volume grew: export revenue per TEU slipped 5.3% and import revenue per TEU 19.9%, because import ground rent fell from BDT 111m to BDT 86m as containers moved faster [2 p.41]. Tariff, not volume, explains the earlier jump: import revenue more than doubled from BDT 114m in FY2023 to BDT 263m in FY2024 after the tariff increase of September 2023 [4 p.39] [2 p.41] [1 p.35]. The next step-ups were a 20% rise on export and empty handling, agreed 1-Jan-2026 for six months according to the Daily Star (effective date not reported) [14], and April 2026 (8.5% on handling and transport, reported by both TBS and the Daily Star) [15] [16]. These sit in FY2026 revenue; the standalone depot company's revenue rose 6.5% in 9M FY2026 [3 p.2] [21].

Line items: depot profit grew with tariffs and tighter trucking costs, while interest and the river terminal kept taking 30-60% of it

Group revenue grew from BDT 1,387m in FY2018 to BDT 2,149m in FY2024, a 7.6% a year compound rate, almost all from the Chattogram depots [21]. FY2025 revenue of BDT 7,281m is not comparable: BDT 5,066m of it is gross air and sea freight billed by the forwarding subsidiary, of which BDT 4,946m was export freight [2 p.41]. Its matching cost, BDT 4,208m of freight paid to airlines and carriers, sits in operating expenses [2 p.42]. On a net basis forwarding added about BDT 858m of gross profit.

Operating costs are labour, trucking and fuel. In FY2025 the standalone depot company spent BDT 241.7m on container transportation, BDT 240.7m on salaries, BDT 125.2m on cargo-handling labour and BDT 70.9m on fuel [2 p.42]. Container transport cost fell from BDT 312.6m to BDT 241.7m and cargo-handling labour from BDT 167.0m to BDT 125.2m, which the chairman credits for the 10.93% cut in standalone operating expenses and the 20.58% rise in standalone operating profit [1 p.14]. Diesel is the input to watch: depots use over 70,000 litres of diesel a day, according to a BICDA circular reported by the Daily Star [16], and the April 2026 diesel price rise of 15% prompted the 8.5% surcharge [15] [16].

Finance cost is the second swing line. It peaked at BDT 392m in FY2020 after the river terminal was built on borrowed money, fell to BDT 259m in FY2023 and rose again to BDT 402m in FY2025, as bank rates rose and the forwarding business needed working capital [1 p.30] [21]. Standalone finance expenses rose 16.6% in FY2025 even though the loan balance fell [1 p.14]. Each 1 percentage point on the March 2026 gross debt of BDT 3,657m is about BDT 37m of pre-tax profit, roughly 6% of FY2025 standalone pre-tax profit [3 p.1] [2 p.9].

Tax and the workers' fund take a further slice: the effective rate after WPPF was 24.4% in FY2025 [21]. Deferred tax on the revaluation of land added BDT 945.5m to the deferred tax liability through other comprehensive income in FY2025, not through profit [2 p.9] [2 p.36].

Subsidiaries: the Hellmann forwarding venture earned BDT 409m in its first year and has since shrunk; the river terminals still lose money

SAPL reports five subsidiaries and no associates or joint ventures accounted under IAS 28 [1 p.29] [4 p.15]. In order of importance:

CTSL is the significant one. It began forwarding in July 2024 as the local agent of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and kept air-freight exports moving during the July-August 2024 unrest [1 p.14]. In January 2025 Hellmann agreed to subscribe 333,333 new CTSL shares [9]; the CTSL accounts show it paid BDT 21.2m in total, for 40.0% of a company that earned BDT 409.3m in its first forwarding year [1 p.169]. From January 2025 that 40.6% minority share (Hellmann plus two directors' small holdings) is deducted from group profit: BDT 166.2m in FY2025 [2 p.36] [2 p.9]. The filings do not explain the subscription price; the forwarding business runs on Hellmann's network as principal, which the January 2025 disclosure gives as the reason for the deal [9]. The January 2025 DSE disclosure gave a premium of Tk 56.50 a share; the CTSL accounts record Tk 53.6, a total of BDT 21.2m [9] [1 p.169].

Forwarding has proved cyclical. In 9M FY2026 the revenue of subsidiaries fell from BDT 4,552m to BDT 3,328m and the minority share of profit from BDT 135m to BDT 58m [3 p.2] [21]. The company blamed lower volumes and lower freight rates at CTSL [9]. CTSL also paid a dividend: SAPL's standalone accounts show BDT 173.4m of dividend income in 9M FY2026, which is eliminated on consolidation [3 p.5] [9].

The river terminals are the long-dated option. Muktarpur, on 28.72 acres on the Dhaleshwari, has a 1,750 TEU yard, a 120,000 TEU a year quay and NBR permission to handle bulk and break-bulk [1 p.6]. Bulk tonnage rose 45% to 1.05m MT in FY2025, but revenue per tonne fell and BIWTA demanded that SAPL refund port charges collected from clients; the High Court stayed the demand, after a BDT 9.40m charge-back [1 p.32] [1 p.14]. Kolkata handled 630,590 MT (mostly fly ash) in FY2025, down 10.2% as Bangladesh-India trade fell; revenue still rose 15.85% on higher tariffs, but from November 2024 38.30% of revenue goes to IWAI [1 p.14] [1 p.29]. The IWAI revenue share cost BDT 20.8m in its first eight months [2 p.42]. The Patna Kalughat terminal was formally handed over on 1 November 2025 [1 p.52].

FY2026: EPS BDT 2.61, down 8%, after three weak quarters and a BDT 0.99 fourth quarter

FY2026 results were announced on 29 October 2026; the audited annual report is not yet in our corpus. Consolidated EPS was BDT 2.61 against BDT 2.85, NAV per share BDT 36.57 and operating cash flow per share BDT 1.92 against BDT 3.84 [9]. With 9M EPS of BDT 1.62, the fourth quarter (April-June 2026) earned BDT 0.99, the best quarter in our series [9] [21]. The full-year statements will show whether that quarter carried tariff benefits, a forwarding recovery or one-off items.

The depot business itself grew: standalone revenue rose 6.5% and standalone operating profit 6.0% in 9M FY2026 [3 p.2]. Operating cash flow halved, as consolidated receivables rose from BDT 739m to BDT 1,276m, mostly at the forwarding subsidiary [3 p.1]; consolidated receivables had already doubled in FY2025 [2 p.8].

Ratios: 40% depot margins and strong cash conversion, but ROE of 2-8% because revalued land is 63% of equity

Margins are high and steady for the depot: group operating margin ran between 38% and 43% from FY2018 to FY2024 and fell to 21.4% in FY2025 only because gross forwarding billings entered revenue [21]. Returns are low because the denominator is large: after the FY2019 land revaluation lifted the surplus from BDT 2.89bn to BDT 5.32bn, book value per share jumped from BDT 23.3 to 33.0 [8 p.10] [21]. ROE has been 2.2-5.2% from FY2019 to FY2024 and 8.3% in FY2025. Equity excluding the revaluation surplus was BDT 3,032m in June 2025, on which FY2025 attributable profit was a 22% return [21].

Cash conversion is a strength: operating cash flow exceeded net profit in every year, by 60-87% before FY2024, because depreciation on a large asset base is a non-cash charge [21]. Free cash flow was negative in FY2018-FY2019 while Muktarpur was built (capex BDT 542m and BDT 499m) and positive since [8 p.14] [21]. Capex is rising again: BDT 325m of PPE and assets in transit in 9M FY2026 against BDT 69m a year earlier [3 p.5].

There is no listed off-dock peer on the DSE: Portlink, ISATL, Incontrade and the others are private, and SAIF Powertec lost its Chattogram terminal contract in 2025. The nearest listed transport name is Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, a ship-owner with different economics. Screener values are shown below as context only, not as a comparison basis [20].

Balance sheet: BDT 3.7bn of debt, now two-thirds short-term, against BDT 12bn of revalued land and yards

Gross debt was BDT 3,386m in June 2018, peaked at BDT 3,919m in June 2019 and was BDT 3,217m in June 2025 [21]. The mix has shifted to short-term: secured overdrafts from Pubali, Dhaka, Jamuna, Dutch-Bangla and Eastern banks rose from BDT 777m to BDT 1,199m in FY2025, while term loans from Dutch-Bangla, Pubali and Eastern fell from BDT 2,131m to BDT 1,761m [2 p.37] [2 p.38]. By March 2026 short-term loans were BDT 2,477m and long-term BDT 1,180m [3 p.1]. CRAB affirmed the entity rating at AA2 with a stable outlook in April 2026 [9].

Most assets are land and yards carried at revalued amounts: PPE was BDT 12,058m in June 2025 of total assets of BDT 13,853m, after a BDT 901.7m revaluation gain in FY2025 [2 p.8] [2 p.9]. Reported NAV per share of BDT 35.67 divides total equity including the BDT 181.5m minority interest by the share count [2 p.50]; on equity attributable to shareholders it is BDT 34.91. There are no capital commitments disclosed beyond what is booked; contingent liabilities are BDT 113.3m of VAT claims under appeal [2 p.8] [4 p.49].

The auditor's FY2025 opinion is unmodified, with emphasis of matter on: a subsidiary (Singapore) consolidated from unaudited accounts; a BDT 26.1m land advance with no legal title yet; a VAT tribunal case under stay; a BDT 165.6m gratuity provision without actuarial valuation; and the missing 'PLC' in the company name [2 p.2] [2 p.3]. None of these is large against equity of BDT 8.27bn.

Governance and payout: two founding families hold 63%, related-party lending runs through the forwarding arm, and the dividend reached BDT 2.50

Control sits with two families. Alliance Holdings Ltd (Rizvi family) holds 23.48% and Summit Holdings Ltd 8.08%; Muhammed Aziz Khan (chairman) 7.03%, his wife 5.18% and daughters 3.68% each; S. A. J. Rizvi (managing director) 5.48% and his sons 1.19% each [1 p.125] [1 p.67]. Sponsors and directors held 62.68% at 30 September 2026 [10]. Summit's founder chairs the board; Summit group's power, LNG and infrastructure businesses are separate companies [1 p.15]. Directors' remuneration was BDT 27.5m in FY2025 [2 p.43].

Related-party flows run mostly inside the group. SAPL lent CTSL BDT 599.8m during FY2025 at 14.55-15.50% and was repaid BDT 645.5m including interest; Alliance Holdings, a sponsor, lent CTSL BDT 80m, repaid with BDT 2.1m of interest [1 p.169] [1 p.173]. CTSL bought BDT 12.2m of off-dock services from Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals (ISATL), a competing depot whose name carries the Summit and Alliance brands [1 p.173] [1 p.72]. CTSL's MD, COO and advisers (Safi and Rafi Omar, Mir Ashique Uz Zaman, Syed Yasser Haider Rizvi) were paid BDT 27.0m [1 p.173]. The SAPL-level note shows no transactions with the ultimate parent and no director loans in FY2025 [2 p.49]. A director, S. A. J. Rizvi, declared on 26 November 2025 his intention to gift 2.81m shares to his daughter [9].

The payout has risen. Cash dividends were BDT 0.60-1.50 a share from FY2019 to FY2024, BDT 1.80 for FY2025 and BDT 2.50 for FY2026 [10] [9]. The company has no written dividend policy [6 p.21]. Payout ran close to or above 100% of EPS in FY2019-FY2023 and was 63% for FY2025 and 96% for FY2026 [21]. Cash dividends paid (BDT 302m in FY2025) were covered by free cash flow of BDT 793m [2 p.12] [21]; the FY2026 dividend costs about BDT 592m.

Capacity to keep paying rests on the standalone depot company, because that is where the dividend is declared. Its retained earnings were BDT 613.5m at June 2025, of which the FY2025 dividend took BDT 426.4m [1 p.31]. In FY2026 it also received BDT 173.4m of dividend from CTSL [3 p.5], so part of the higher FY2026 payout is forwarding profit passed up the chain. Standalone operating cash flow was BDT 388.8m in 9M FY2026 against dividends paid of BDT 348.0m in the same period [3 p.5]. If forwarding profits stay lower, the depot's own cash flow, after interest and rising capex, is what funds the dividend.

What's next: tariff renewals, forwarding volumes and Chattogram's new terminals will set the next leg of depot earnings

What will move the lines next, as of October 2026 (direction only, no forecast):

SAPORTL at BDT 59.4 trades at 22.8x FY2026 EPS of BDT 2.61, 1.62x announced NAV of BDT 36.57 and a 4.2% dividend yield [19] [9]. The company-reported year-end P/E was 21.0x (FY2021), 24.9x, 23.6x, 14.7x and 7.5x (FY2025), and price-to-NAV 0.50-0.87x [1 p.66]. These are facts about the price, not a view on it.

FAQ

What does Summit Alliance Port do?

It runs off-dock inland container depots at Patenga, Chattogram, that stuff export cargo, deliver imports and store empty containers, plus river terminals at Muktarpur and in India [1 p.5] [1 p.29].

How many containers did SAPL handle in FY2025?

133,764 export TEU and 26,772 import TEU, plus 2.28m empty-container days [1 p.32].

What is the FY2026 dividend?

25% cash, BDT 2.50 a share; record date 18 November 2026, AGM 29 December 2026 [9].

Why did FY2025 revenue jump to BDT 7.3bn?

The subsidiary CTSL began freight forwarding as Hellmann's agent; BDT 5,066m of gross freight billings were included [2 p.41].

Who owns Summit Alliance Port?

Sponsors and directors (Alliance Holdings, Summit Holdings, the Aziz Khan and Rizvi families) hold 62.68%, institutions 10.67%, the public 26.64% [10].

Which results does this report use?

Audited statements FY2018-FY2025, the FY2025 annual report and the unaudited nine months to March 2026; FY2026 figures are the DSE-announced EPS, NAV, NOCFPS and dividend, as the FY2026 annual report is not yet in our corpus.

Sources

1. Summit Alliance Port Limited Annual Report 2024-25 (year to 30-Jun-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
2. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2025 (S. F. Ahmed & Co.) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
3. Summit Alliance Port Limited unaudited financial statements, nine months to 31-Mar-2026 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
4. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2023 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
5. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2022 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
6. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2021 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
7. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2020 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
8. Summit Alliance Port Limited audited financial statements, year to 30-Jun-2019 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
9. Dhaka Stock Exchange news archive, SAPORTL (Oct-2024 to Oct-2026), incl. FY2026 dividend declaration of 29-Oct-2026 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
10. Dhaka Stock Exchange company page, SAPORTL (shareholding at 30-Sep-2026, dividend history, 52-week range) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
11. The Business Standard, 'Chattogram Port enforces new tariff despite strong opposition from stakeholders' (15-Oct-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
12. The Financial Express, 'Enhanced Ctg port tariffs come into force amid strong opposition' (15-Oct-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
13. The Daily Star, 'ICDs to raise export container charges by 60%' (20-Jul-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
14. The Daily Star, 'ICDs, users agree on 20% tariff hike for six months' (1-Jan-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
15. The Business Standard, 'Export-import trade costs to rise further as ICDs increase tariffs by 8.5%' (20-Apr-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
16. The Daily Star, 'ICDs raise charges, a day after fuel price hike' (21-Apr-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
17. The Business Standard, 'APM Terminals unveils $550m Laldia terminal layout; construction starts in December' (30-Jul-2026) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
18. The Daily Star, 'Govt signs 30-year deal with Danish APM for Laldia container terminal' (17-Nov-2025) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
19. AnalystBro price data (TradingView feed): DSE:SAPORTL daily bars to 29-Oct-2026 · link · accessed 2026-10-31
20. AnalystBro screener (TradingView), DSE transport names, 29-Oct-2026 (context only) · link · accessed 2026-10-31
21. AnalystBro model for this report (workbook tabs below) · link · accessed 2026-10-31