The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
INNSCOR Africa Limited has reported a profit of US$50.771 million from a recorded revenue of US$480 million in six months which represents a growth of 20.2 percent over the comparative period.
This was revealed in the company’s unaudited abridged group financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2023.
The company said this growth was attributed to improved capacity utilisation across the group’s core manufacturing entities among other factors.
“The group recorded revenue of US$480.409 million for the six-month period under review, representing a 20.2 percent growth over the comparative period. Revenue growth was underpinned by improved capacity utilisation across the group’s core manufacturing entities, supported by the introduction of new product categories, category extensions, route-to-market optimisation, and an acute focus on pricing strategy to ensure affordability and convenience to the consumer,” reads the financial results.
The group said at an operating profit before depreciation, amortisation, and fair value adjustments they saw a contraction in margin of 3.7 percent which resulted mainly from the reduced gross margin yield, where increased cost- push pressure experienced during the period, within the bill of materials, was not fully passed on through pricing.
In addition, the group said operating expenditure saw a persistent re-basing effect during the period, most notably within electricity and staff costs.
“During the period, the group has also invested considerably in the selling and distribution functions within certain key businesses, which have driven the volume and revenue performance for the Group, albeit from a marginally higher cost base. EBITDA closed at USD 50.771 million, representing a 10.7 percent contraction versus the comparative period.
“Financial income for the period of USD 2.874 million is largely attributed to net foreign exchange gains on various currency holdings; this was an improvement on the USD 1.850 million expense recorded in the comparative period. The depreciation and amortisation increased by 15.8 percent over the comparative period on account of the extensive capital investment undertaken in the prior periods, showed some efficiency improvement compared to the revenue growth recorded,” reads the financial results.
The group’s interest expense for the period under review was USD 4.442 million, a development which they say was a significant reduction over the comparative period charge of USD 9.091 million, which was characterised by significant increases in interest rates on local currency borrowings.
The group which is domiciled in Zimbabwe has over 70 brands under its stable.
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