Listed cement manufacture, East African Portland Cement Plc, has posted a KSh1.035 billion net loss for the half-year period that ended on December 31, 2020, after a challenging period that saw a significant drop in activity in the construction sector.
The half-year net loss was a 34% improvement from the KSh1.575 billion loss posted in the same half-year period in 2019.
A slow down in the real estate and construction industry saw EAPC’s half year revenue fall by 6.3% to KSh 1.39 billion from KSh1.48 billion a year ago.
The company managed to lower its administrative expenses by 50% to KSh540.5 million, from KSh1.075 billion a year earlier, by realigning the manpower cost to the current productivity level.
In the financial report, East African Portland Cement said that “it is at the end of terminating its corporate loan facility to eliminate the high finance costs through a balance sheet restructuring programme..” The company expects the restructuring programme to yield adequate cash inflows to support its working capital needs and to fund a plant refurbishment needed “to attain a competitive cost of production”.
The firm’s total assets fell to KSh34.6 billion at the end of the half year period, compared to KSh35.2 billion six months earlier. Its total liabilities went up by KSh418 million in the six months period, to KSh16.84 billion from KSh16.42 billion at the end of June 2020.
East African Portland Cement board of directors is optimistic that after the business reorganization, the firm will return to profitability. The board did not recommend the payment of a dividend for the half year period.
