Flour made by the Unga Group. PHOTO | FILE
Summary
- The firm saw its turnover improve 8.1 per cent to close the period at Sh11.07 billion.
- Unga says its animal nutrition category – pigs, poultry and cattle feeds – recorded a 20 per cent increase in sales.
- Its human nutrition category, which includes brands like wheat flour, maize flour and porridge, saw volumes decline four per cent but this was partly cushioned by an upsurge sales of its flagship Jogoo brand.
Listed miller Unga Group has posted an
after-tax profit of Sh511.1 million for the six months to December, a
near four-fold increase in earnings which resulted from higher sales.
The
firm, which is the buyout target of American multinational Seaboard
Corporation, saw its turnover improve 8.1 per cent to close the period
at Sh11.07 billion.
Unga says its animal nutrition
category – pigs, poultry and cattle feeds – recorded a 20 per cent
increase in sales due to a stable supply of raw material despite last
year’s biting drought.
Its human nutrition category,
which includes brands like wheat flour, maize flour and porridge, saw
volumes decline four per cent but this was partly cushioned by an
upsurge sales of its flagship Jogoo brand.
“The improved availability of grain significantly improved the
Group’s ability to produce maize meal and animal feeds at better yields,
resulting in improved margins,” Unga said in a statement Wednesday.
“The
new supply chain and operational improvement initiatives also
contributed to gains in profitability. Our new product lines – pulses,
rice and fish feed --continue to show growth.”
Maize subsidy
Kenya
on May 16, 2017 announced a Sh6 billion subsidy on maize imports to
help lower the cost of flour which had shot up due to drought and poor
planning on the part of the government.
The subsidy
lowered the price of a 90-kg bag of maize to Sh2,300 from above Sh4,000
with taxpayers offering importers a rebate or the difference of about
Sh1,700.
This kept the cost of the two-kg packet of
flour at Sh90 from a high of Sh153 in April. The average cost of this
bag is now Sh110.
Unga’s management says it is on track
to commission a new 300 tonnes-a-day wheat milling plant in Eldoret by
July, an improvement from the 250 tonnes currently handled by an older
machine.
The miller, which closed several in-store bakeries belonging to its bakery subsidiary Ennsvalley to cut costs, says it is “working to recover its market presence.”
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