LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Expansive Innscor Africa has defied the current volatile environment to embark on various projects as the company moves to expand its territory across the country and continent.
The diversification of projects has enabled the company to survive in the past years as various entities cover for each other in case one enters a difficult period.
In a trading update for the first quarter ended September 30 2021, Innscor company secretary Andrew Lorimer said the group continued to deliver positive volume growth across most categories, supported by recent investment and business optimisation initiatives, notwithstanding current market dynamics.
“Despite current uncertainties in the market, the group remains optimistic and will continue to focus on its ongoing business optimisation and expansion initiatives,” Lorimer said.
During the quarter under review the company made some expansion projects and increased product range to capitalise on large economies of scale to beat competition.
Lorimer said the National Foods division whose volumes closed 24% ahead of the comparative quarter following an encouraging recovery within the maize division had done a recent investment into broadening the product offering and plant enhancements delivered incremental growth for the business.
The bakery division which registered a 32% increase in volumes over the comparative quarter has commenced further investment into plant automation in its Harare operations, while a new state of the art bakery line for Bulawayo is planned for commissioning during 2022.
The newly- stablished down-packing unit, which incorporates rice, salt, sugar beans, and popcorn, recorded volume growth of 59% over the comparative quarter which Lorimer described as “another pleasing result”.
The snacks division delivered an 81% volume improvement against the comparative quarter, with strong demand across the increasing range of products.
Volumes at Associated Meat Packers were marginally lower than the comparative quarter, and this was primarily due to the restricted trading hours in the quarter brought about through the Covid-19 lockdown measures and additional investment into the “Texas Meats” retail network continues across the country, the company said.
Irvine’s volumes within the day-old-chick category closed 39% ahead of the comparative quarter, driven by the firm demand in the small-scale sector that has also embarked on capacity expansion initiatives across all three core categories of the business.
Volume performance at Natpak remained firm, with a 13% increase in aggregate volumes recorded over the comparative quarter following the successful commissioning of additional production capacity and capabilities during the final quarter of 2021.
Lorimer said Prodairy continued to record excellent volume growth across all categories, with aggregate volumes being 46% above the comparative quarter and significant expansion investment continuing into raw milk production, as well as product and packaging diversifications and enhancements.
Probottlers achieved pleasing overall volume growth of 46% against the comparative quarter, with both the cordial and the carbonated soft drinks categories registering firm growth on the back of recent investments into additional filling capacity and capability.
Lorimer said the financial status of the group remains healthy and the impact of the Covid-19 has not created any issues from a solvency or liquidity perspective.
In the outlook, the group will continue to review its financing, capital investment and working capital models as part of its business continuity plans.
