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Tawanda Musarurwa Senior Business Reporter
Listed agro-industrial firm Zimplow Holdings posted a healthy set of numbers for the year to December 31, 2019, with profit after tax rising by 199 percent to $100 million on an inflation-adjusted basis.
Group revenues rose 85 percent to $504 million during the year, while operating profit was up 158 percent to $122 million (calculated on an inflation-adjusted basis).
Inflationary pressures during the period under review pushed administration expenses to $75,9 million from $45,9 million in the prior year.
Chairman Thomas Chataika attributed the strong performance to volumes increases across some of the group’s divisions, as well as to positive export performance during the period.
“The group had a strong financial year with turnover up from $272,9 million in 2018 to $504 million in 2019.
“Volume performance was mixed across the group with Powermec and Mealie Brand increasing their volumes while Farmec, Barzem and CT Bolts suffered some volume reduction,” said the chairman.
“Through a good mix of exports and local products sold, the company was able to surpass prior year profitability in real terms.”
With regards to the divisional performance, Farmec’s revenues improved from $99,1 million to $172,1 million.
The Mealie Brand division also had a strong year, with revenues rising to $112,8 million from $70 million. Management said Mealie Brand benefited from “strong export sales which were up 62 percent on prior year. Export sales enabled the division to have exchange gains while also providing foreign currency for other group companies”.
Mealie Brand posted a profit after tax of $55,9 million, up from $17,1 million.
Powermec was driven by ongoing electricity shortages, with the group’s gensets volumes increasing from 49 to 102.
The division’s revenues grew from $22,9 million in the prior year to $51,6 million. And in terms of profitability, Powermec improved from $1,4 million in 2018 to a profit after tax of $4,1 million.
Management says the demand pipeline remains strong and ongoing efforts are being made to ensure that the division carries sufficient stock at hand.
The CT Bolts division’s revenue rose 59 percent to $16,2 million from $10,2 million in the prior comparable period.
However, overall volumes declined 26 percent to 299 tonnes but there was a trade-off in sales volume mix with high tensile steel bolts up 151 percent and mild steel down 51 percent. Profit after tax for the division declined from $1,9 million to $493 000.
And finally, Barzem’s turnover rose significantly to $150,6 million from $71,2 million, while profit rose to $36,3 million from $4,1 million in 2018. Zimplow’s total assets nearly doubled to $512,8 million last year from $267,8 million previously.
The board has declared a dividend of 3,78 cents per share.
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