Unga Group Plc has posted a decline in its half-year earnings to KSh 83, 476,000 for the six months ending 31st December 2020.
These are lower compared to a net profit of KSh 151,322,000 posted over a similar period in 2019.
The Kenya-based holding company is involved with the manufacture and marketing of a broad range of human nutrition, animal nutrition attributed the low earnings to depressed margins and massive restructuring and finance costs.
Underscoring the tough market conditions, the group projects a tough year and said instead it will leverage its strengths to drive performance improvement initiatives across all operations.
Key challenges arise from weak demand coupled with excess production capacity and reducing maize grain supply. It further notes that the change of maize and wheat flour Value Added Tax status from zero-rated to exempt in January 2021 has increased operations costs. This is in addition to the delay in receipt of tax refunds and government debt.
“The prolonged non-payment of these funds continues to hamper the ability to optimise business performance,” the Group Said.
The group says it will not be paying any divided.
The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary is Unga Investments Limited, which has a 65% holding in its subsidiary, Unga Holding Limited. As of June 2010, the Company’s major shareholders were Victus Limited and Moses Thara, among others.
The UNGA stock closed its last trading day (Thursday) at Ksh 32.00 per share on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, recording a 9.97% gain over its previous closing price of Ksh 29.10.
