LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Victoria Falls Stock Exchange-listed Innscor Africa Limited is planning to invest close to US$130m in its strategic business units in the next two years, it has emerged.
“Innscor will invest US$32m in Natfoods with various projects at different stages, US$ 37m in the bakeries division and US$21m into beverages. The company will also invest US$11m in Irvines, US$10m in Colcom, US$7m in Natpak and US$10m in Profeeds,” Innscor Africa chief finance officer Godfrey Gwainda said at the recent Zimbabwe Capital Markets conference recently held in London.
He said the 2023 financial year would see a considerable number of these projects being commissioned across the group.
This will enable production capacity increase, add new product categories, significantly improve product quality and further enhance production efficiencies; all enabled via the introduction of world-class technologies and plant automation.
He said a new flourmill would be commissioned in Bulawayo in the fourth quarter of this year while short-cut pasta and biscuit projects are on track for commissioning in 2024.
“A new US$ 22m modern bakery in Bulawayo, to be commissioned in May 2023. There will also be automation of lines three and in Harare Bakery,” Gwainda said.
He said Innscor would recapitalise 240 bread delivery vehicles at US$12m. This would be Zimbabwe’s largest distribution fleet, Gwainda said.
In its financial results for the six months to December 31, 2022, Innscor reported a 12% revenue increase to US$399.685m from the comparative period, driven by pricing optimisation and volume growth across the group’s core categories as capacity utilisation continued to improve, whilst the introduction of new products and expansion of the overall product portfolio also combined to drive revenue.
EBITDA for the group stood at US$60.321m in the period under review. This was on the back of firm gross margin dollar growth, which was consistent with revenue growth, whilst gross margin percentages were maintained at the same level as the comparative period.
Profit before tax amounted to US$45.162m, representing favourable growth over the comparative period, and notwithstanding the high interest charges incurred in the opening quarter of the period under review.
