Sefalana Post P1.8 Billion Revenue In Six Months
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday February 1, 2016 15:26
The group’s largest subsidiary, Sefalana Cash and Carry Limited (Botswana) contributed 66% and 58% of the group’s revenue and profit before tax.
The group also reported knock down effect of the falling South African Rand at its Namibian market where the falling Rand shaved off R15 million when the Namibian Dollar was converted to the Pula.
Otherwise Namibia contributed 28 per cent and 17 per cent of the group’s respective revenue and profit before tax, with profit before tax amounting to P13.3 million, up 81 per cent in the same period last year. Sefalana operates 14 stores in Namibia. However, the group had a knock in its popular manufacturing segment of infants feed which is largely reliant on government tenders for child feeding across the country. A delay in the awarding of the tender, which is worth P200 million only resulted in the company realising just P1 million.
However the Sefalana subsidiary, Food Botswana, was finally awarded part of the tender. They were also later asked to supply to other regions (the south) where the winning tenderer had failed to supply,
Foods Botswana was also asked to double up on the awarded quantities from November onwards and therefore the second half of the financial year will see some recovery from the impact of the four month initial delay, according to the group managing director, Chandra Chauhan.
The group also reported that its property division in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia were doing well. Its newly built four warehouses in Gaborone have already secured tenants
The group also reports that though their Zambian property are fully let, new legislative changes effected in September last year now bar Sefalana Group from leasing their property in US currency like they had done over the years, resulting in losses of P25 million due to the weakening of the Zambian currency, the Kwacha, in the half year period alone.