Mumias Sugar net loss widens to Sh6.77bn

Mumias Sugar factory. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

In Summary

• The miller's losses, which widened by 42 per cent in the year ending June, raises questions on its ability to return to profitability.
• It attributes the losses to an acute shortage of sugarcane that saw production of the sweetener drop by 67 per cent.
• According to the firm, total cane crushed was 407,008 tonnes compared with 1.2 million tonnes in the previous year.

By GERALD ANDAE
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Mumias Sugar Company #ticker:MSC net loss widened by 42 per cent in the year ending June, raising questions on its ability to return to profitability.

Mumias registered an after-tax loss of Sh6.77 billion in the period under review, compared with Sh4.75 billion loss registered in the previous year.

The miller has attributed the losses to an acute shortage of sugarcane that saw production of the sweetener drop by 67 per cent.

“The major challenge faced by the company throughout the year was the acute shortage of sugarcane experienced in the region,” said the board chairman Kennedy Ngumbau in a statement.

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Cane crushed

According to the firm, total cane crushed was 407,008 tonnes compared with 1.2 million tonnes in the previous year.

“As a result, a lower production of 15,891 tonnes of sugar was achieved compared with 75,073 tonnes produced in the previous year,” he said.

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The sugarcane shortage was caused by drought in major cane growing zones that affected the crop in the field.

The Sugar Directorate estimated a shortage of 1.9 million tonnes at the end of last financial year.