Williamson Tea and Kapchorua Tea have both seen significant reductions in profit after tax for the half year ended September 2024 with Williamson sliding to loss-making territory.
- •While both Williamson Tea Kenya Plc and Kapchorua Tea are listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Williamson is the majority shareholder of Kapchorua, owning 39.56% of the company.
- •Williamson Tea made a KSh 122.4 million loss in the 6 months to September – a 125.7% decline from a profit of KSh 477.1 million in the same period 2023.
- •Kapchorua’s net profit declined 91.6% to KSh 18.2 million from KSh 218.1 million recorded a year prior.
The two companies, which share directors, have maintained a poor outlook holding that “the supply of Kenyan tea continuing to outstrip global demand.” In June, the tea firms noted that there was an oversupply of tea, pushing prices down following huge unsold tea stocks held by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).
Williamson’s revenue’s declined by 11.9% to KSh 1.9 billion, and subsequently made a loss from operations of KSh 216.9 million. Kapchorua made a loss from operations of KSh 5.1 million in the period amid sales increasing 17.3% to KSh 1.1 billion. Further, Kapchorua‘s biological assets valuation decreased to KSh 7.9 million in the period from KSh 20.5 million in 2023.
“Management remains focused on securing new customers and controlling costs in a market depression that is likely to continue for this financial year,” noted the two companies in separate earnings reports.
Williamson and Kapchorua tea are listed under the ticker symbols WTK and KAPC at the NSE, ranking among the most expensive stocks at the bourse. Following the underwhelming results, the two firms have suffered capital losses at the NSE.
WTK closed today’s trading session at KSh 232.00, 3% lower than Thursday, taking the year-to-date gain to 1.8%. KAPC closed Friday’s session at KSh 234.00, 13.3% loss in a day, taking the year-to-date gain to 4.0%. The two firms did not declare an interim dividend.
