Radar disposes of UBM

lead by Mr Bob Hamill for an undisclosed amount.
Radar wholly owned UBM, which is among the country’s leading building materials suppliers.

The company told shareholders last week in a statement that negotiations had been concluded and advised them to seek professional advice when dealing with the company’s shares.
“All stakeholders are advised that the negotiations have been concluded for the disposal of UMB to a management consortium,” said the company.
UBM began operations in 1960, trading as A.F. Philip & Company.

The sale of the business comes at a time when the group is negotiating for a US$7 million offshore facility to finance its capital expenditure projects.
Radar is expected to allocate US$8 million in capital expenditure from the US$4,6 million in the full year to June 30, 2011.

Group chief executive Mr Elias Hwenga told an analysts briefing for the full year to June 2011 that borrowing for the group would be reduced to below US$10 million from US$12 million.
For the year ended June 30 2011, UBM suffered an operating loss of US$3,3 million which it attributed to numerous challenges including stock pilferage and poor credit control resulting in stock and debtors write offs.

In its financial results for the year, Radar said the business was unable to restock at optimum levels since the introduction of the multiple currency system in 2009.
This has largely been attributed to the unavailability of appropriate funding at competitive interest rates.
Analysts said with the correct level of working capital support, UBM’s fortunes could have been turned around.

They added that UBM was a sound asset for Radar and it only needed management to adopt lean and mean structures to reduce revenue leakages.
For the 12 months, the group turned over US$37 million compared to US$24,9 million recorded in the comparable prior period.
The group was targeting US$40 million in revenues for the year to June 2011.

The increase in revenue was attributed to a rise in sales volumes across all businesses.
Radar said Border Timbers, which had a profit of US$5 million, drove group profits for the year to US$2,2 million.

Radar owns 51 percent of Border Timbers, which is listed separately on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
It also owns 100 percent of McDonalds Bricks and Associated Clay mines located outside Bulawayo.

Radar and Border Timbers are the most tightly held stocks on the bourse.