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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S largest integrated media house, Zimpapers, is hopeful that the prospects of a bumper harvest and a positive outlook for the mining sector would spur the company into sustained profitability this year.
In a statement accompanying financial results for the year ended 31 December 2020 Zimpapers board chair, Mr Tommy Sithole, said despite the optimism in the economy, the company was conscious of the possibility of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and its negative repercussions to the gains so far attained.
“As a result of the optimism in the economy arising from above normal rainfall in the 2020/21 agricultural season and the positive prospects for the mining sector, we are expecting that 2021 will be a better year for the company where profitability will be sustained,” he said.
“We are, however, aware of the possibility of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that may reverse all the optimism and gains recorded to date.”
During the year under review, the media environment was tough given the impact of the Covid-19 on businesses and lifestyles, which brought about changes in consumption patterns.
However, Zimpapers’ total revenue clocked ZWL$1,345 million, which was three percent better than the same period in 2019. The group’s gross profit margin remained flat at 67 percent, while net profit margin from operations declined from 17 percent in previous year to 12 percent, which management attributed to “an inflationary increase in operating costs”.
– @okazunga
Online Reporter