Sefalana rakes P232 million in profits
Business
Botswana ‘s home grown diversified retail & wholesale group Sefalana ,which portfolio runs across Southern Africa successfully managed to emerge from 2017 difficult trading environment. The Group recorded a whopping 34 percent increase in profit before tax for the year ended 30 April 2018, raking in P232 million.
This is in comparison to the prior year which ended 30th April 2017, a year which the Group operations faced one of the most difficult trading circumstances in years, especially in its major market, Botswana. This was predominately because of the effects of 2016 closure of some major mining companies and parastatals, which spilled over into 2017 and shrunk macroeconomic cash flows as well as domestic purchasing power.
For the year under review, the Botswana Stock Exchange(BSE) listed diversified goods and commodities conglomerate put in place several cost saving initiatives in a bid to extract value from the company‘s well diversified group of businesses across the Region. Sefalana Operates in Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho and of late entered the lucrative South African market and the Zambian property space.
According to the company’s audited financials released this week several customer services nectarines such as online shopping beard fruits as the Group registered a total comprehensive income of P189.1 million representing a 21 percent increase on the prior year.
The Group‘s revenue hit P4.8 billion mirroring a satisfactory rise of 12 percent compared to the prior year.
“We are pleased to report that through this approach, we have been able to close this year on a very positive note. We are confident that our shareholders and potential investors will be pleased with our performance and will be enthused with the forward-looking prospects of our business,” said Chandra Chauhan, Sefalana Group Managing Director this week when addressing stakeholders on the Group performance. One of Sefalana‘s key market is Botswana. The company was conceived in Botswana in the early years of Botswana‘s economic development epoch.
During the year under review Botswana operations continued to contribute significantly to the Group‘s financial performance. Though the division businesses experienced increased pressure on margins for both wholesale and retail segments the operations registered a 3 percent increase in turnover, collecting P2.6 billion compared to 2.52 billion gathered during the financial year ended April 2017. Sefalana Cash & Carry Limited contributed 54 percent and 23 percent of the Group’s revenue and profit before tax for the year, respectively.
However, overall profitability for the division fell significantly. “Efforts are being made to limit the impact of these pressures as we anticipate restored market conditions and improved results in the ensuing year,” underscored the Group Sefalana boss. At the beginning of the financial year, Sefalana operated three Hyper Stores, 25 Cash and Carry stores and 23 supermarket retail stores across the country, giving the Group a total of 51 stores in Botswana.
“We have taken a cautious approach to new store openings over the last three years as we recognize the saturation levels in the market, and have tried to avoid increasing our overhead costs in any particular area where the market size remains unchanged,” he said. According to Sefalana Executives, strategic approaches enabled the Group to cut cost and save for more profitable operations given the unfavorable trading circumstances that the year under review was.
“Where we are present, we strive to work towards offering our customers a one stop-shop experience and pride ourselves on being first in the market to introduce a number of initiatives” added The Group MD. Sefalana launched several initiatives to enhance customer service, convenience and efficiency in the process also cashing in big for the company through cost cutting and reduced overheads. This includes Sefalana Online shopping site, Sefalana Mobile App, Sefalana rewards and credit facilities amongst others.
According to Sefalana Executives, the Sefalana Online Shopping site which the company prides itself for being Botswana ‘s first FMGG online purchasing offering did exceptionally well as it started off in Gaborone and surrounding areas gathering satisfactory feedback. “Initially, the online service was only offered to our customers in and around Gaborone. In November 2017, we extended this service to Francistown and Maun where our customers in the area requested that we also offer this service to them.”
Namibia operations contributed 32 percent and 23 percent of revenue and profit before tax for the year, respectively. Turnover amounted to P1.5 billion, a growth of 15 percent on the prior year. Profit before tax for the Namibia division amounted to P54 million, up 19 percent from the prior year. “Our operations in Namibia continue to grow from strength to strength, making a larger contribution to overall Group results each year, as we enhance our customer engagement and offering,” reads the statement.
During the year under review Sefalana pursed expansion plans in Namibia in a bid to broaden market access and performance for existing stores. The Group’s division in Lesotho which has been operating for the past year and half delivered strong financials for the company: “We are delighted to have built a strong presence in the market in a very short space of time, “said Chauhan. Lesotho operations registered total turnover of P388 million for the year under review, contributing 8 percent of total Group revenue.
The segment achieved an EBITA of P9.5 million for the year, and a profit before tax of P2.1 million after taking into account finance charges. This according to Sefalana executives is a significant improvement on the loss of P5.6 million experienced in the first six months of trading since acquisition. “We operate in a very low margin environment in Lesotho and therefore look to improve the profitability of this business through top line growth and by offering our customers an excellent service,” he said.
Sefalana also operates heavy duty commodities dealership in Botswana which consists of Commercial Motors (Pty) Limited and Mechanized Farming (Pty) Limited, under this segment the company pushes industrial locomotives, automotives, cars and farming machinery amongst others. The segment contributed 3 percent and 9 percent to Group turnover and profit before tax, respectively.
CML historically relied on tender business, and over recent years has been focusing on growing its private sales as a result of a general decline in tender activity. During the year, the business secured the sale of a number of vehicles to the private sector thereby improving its performance compared to the prior year. Another segment, Manufacturing, consists of Foods Botswana (Pty) Limited, the division contributed 5 percent and 9 percent to Group turnover and profit before tax for the year respectively.
Chauhan, said a greater level of profitability was achieved as compared to the prior year, mainly due to short term orders placed by Government and growth of our house brands within the Beverages division. The company underscores that for the Milling and Beverages more strategies and expansion efforts were being put in place to diversify business windows for the two divisions in a bid to reduce reliance on government tenders. On the 26th of July 2018, the Board of Directors of Sefalana Holding Company Limited declared a final gross dividend of 23 thebe per ordinary share.
“Our focus will continue to be on our core segments that generate strong returns for the Group. We identified the need to expand into the Region and have successfully done this through a careful and cautious expansion plan into three countries over the last four years, taking into account the impact of the various macro-economic environments and also considering the foreign exchange risk of retranslation of returns,” said Managing Director Chauhan.
Business
ICT sector contributed P1.6 billion in Q4 2022
The latest figures by the government owned statistics entity, Statistics Botswana show that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in this country registered significant growth during the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4 2022).
According to the figures the ICT sector made a contribution of 2.5 percent to the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices, in Q4 2022.
The figures show that at constant prices, the ICT sector realized an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent and the sector contributed around P1.6 billion to the economy during the fourth quarter of 2022. “In Q4 2022, the contribution of ICT sector to the economy stood at 2.5 percent of total GDP at both current and constant prices. The ICT sector’s value added at current prices amounted to P1, 633.6 million while at constant prices it amounted to P1, 242.2 million. The sector registered an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent in constant prices,” according to the Botswana Information and Communication Technology recent update by Statistics Botswana. The statistics entity noted that the Postal and Courier Services sector’s value added amounted to P67.2 million in current prices, which constituted 0.1 percent of total GDP in Q4 2022.
Giving an update regarding the performance of other ICT sub sectors Statistics Botswana stated that fixed telephone line subscriptions decreased by 2.3 percent in Q4 2022, from 93,925 subscriptions recorded in Q3 2022 to 91,725. Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions however increased by 0.8 percent in Q4 2022, from 4,315,368 registered in Q3 2022 to 4,348,010. Comparing Q4 2022 to the same quarter of 2021, fixed telephone lines decreased by 30.8 percent while mobile cellular telephone subscriptions went up by 4.5 percent. Both pre-paid and post-paid mobile cellular telephone subscriptions increased in Q4 2022. Pre-paid mobile cellular telephone subscriptions rose by 0.8 percent from 4,149,143 in Q3 2022 to 4,181,783 while post-paid mobile cellular telephone subscriptions increased slightly in Q4 2022 from 166,225 registered in Q3 2022 to 166,227, according to Statistics Botswana.
Total internet subscriptions both mobile internet plus fixed internet subscriptions increased by 3.6 percent in Q4 2022, from 2,875,153 registered in Q3 2022 to 2,977,845. Mobile internet subscriptions went up, registering an increase of 4.5 percent from 2,721,946 subscriptions in Q3 2022 to 2,844,958 in Q4 2022. Meanwhile fixed internet subscriptions decreased by 13.3 percent (from 153,207 registered in Q3 2022 to 132,887 in Q4 2022).
Statistics Botswana stated that mobile money subscriptions have been increasing over the years. In Q4 2022, mobile money subscriptions went up by 1.3 percent, from 1,788.551 registered in Q3 2022 to 1,811,036. Mobile money is a technology that allows customers to receive, store and spend money using a mobile phone. To enjoy the benefits of mobile money, a customer has to register and open an account with a mobile money service provider. Existing mobile money services in Botswana include Smega by BTC, Orange Money by Orange Botswana, Myzaka by Mascom and Poso Money by Botswana Post.
The statistics entity stated that on-net fixed telephone domestic calls (Fixed to fixed telephone calls) traffic went down by 8.0 percent in Q4 2022, from 15.4 million minutes registered in Q3 2022 to 14.1 million and added that off net fixed telephone domestic calls (Fixed to mobile telephone calls) traffic decreased as well in Q4 2022. It went down by 0.6 percent from 23.9 million minutes in Q3 2022 to 23.7 million minutes.
With regard to mobile telephone domestic calls traffic, on-net mobile telephone traffic decreased by
0.8 percent in Q4 2022 while off-net mobile telephone traffic increased by 1.6 percent. While mobile to fixed telephone traffic decreased by 1.1 percent in Q4 2022. International outgoing fixed telephone calls traffic declined by 8.2 percent in Q4 2022, from 1.1 million minutes in Q3 2022 to 1.0 million.
The entity noted that outgoing international mobile telephone calls traffic increased slightly by 0.8 percent in Q4 2022, from 4.1 million minutes recorded in Q3 2022. On-net short message services (SMS) declined by 1.5 percent and off-net SMS traffic also went down by 0.5 percent in Q4 2022, according to figures from the statistics entity.
Business
State owned MDCB comes to Minergy’s rescue
Government owned mining investment firm Mineral Development Company Botswana(MDCB) has agreed to bail out embattled Minergy Coal, and clear its arrears with mining contractor – Jarcon, the Botswana Stock Exchange coal miner said in a circular to the market this week.
In the statement Minergy which operates Masama Coal Mine in Media, near Lentsweletau said it has signed a term sheet for funding offered by its main funder, the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Pty) Ltd.
The facility terms are subject to normal legal counsel review, satisfactory due diligence, final documentation, and the review, acceptance, and execution of the relevant financing agreements by the MDCB and the fulfilment of suspensive conditions.
The funding will be utilised to significantly repay the arrears of the Jarcon trade account as required by the Term Sheet. The statement said Minergy and Mineral Development Corporation intends to finalise and allow the disbursement of funds by no later than 30 June 2023.
The funding will allow Minergy to initially continue operations in a reduced sales environment with the associated reduced-cost initiatives implemented to stabilise the business ahead of ramping up to pre-shutdown levels.
In mid- March Minergy announced the halt of Mining operations at Masama due to what it termed a drastic decline in coal prices which resulted in a cash flow crisis.
It emerged that the infant coal miner owed it’s mining contractor, Jarcon over P80 million in arrears. Jarcon had reached a decision to tool down and let go of some of its employees citing cash flow shortfalls as it sought to demand clarity on outstanding payments from Minergy.
Minergy has previously received funding in hundreds of millions from Mineral Development Company (MDC), another Botswana Government 100 percent owned entity.
MDCB, which is housed under the Ministry of Minerals & Energy, is the wholly owner of Morupule Coal Mine. The relatively new minerals investment company also owns 15 percent of De Beers Group on behalf of Government.
Minergy ’s other state funders are Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), the state owned investment entity, 100 percent owned by Government of Botswana, housed under the Ministry of Trade & Industry.
Combined, BDC and MDC have previously pumped over P300 million debt funding to Minergy to bring Masama coal mine to production and later for expansion.
Minergy incurred a net loss during the year ended 30 June 2022 of P131 151 034 (2021: P106 903 609). As at 30 June 2022 the Group had accumulated losses of P376 420 873 (2021: P245 269 838) and its net liabilities exceeded its net assets by P180 279 583 (2021: net liabilities exceeded its net assets by P56 030 697).
This gave rise to a material uncertainty that casted significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, and therefore, that it may be unable to realise its assets and discharge the normal course of business.
Significant progress towards stabilizing the business was made during the financial year in mitigating the going concern which included receipt of the final tranche of debt funding, completion of debt restructuring to stabilise the business and successful commissioning of Stage 4 of the Processing Plant (Rigid Screening and Stock Handling section) which allows it to now operate at nameplate capacity.
In addition to this, the ongoing war in Ukraine stimulated high coal prices from the end of the third quarter of FY22, as the energy market and the security of supply came under severe pressure. This led to extraordinary demand, allowing access to previously uncompetitive and uneconomical exports into the seaborne market during the fourth quarter.
Minergy successfully exported coal via Walvis Bay, with two 30 000-tonne vessels dispatched in May and June 2022 on a FOB basis. The Group also exported coal through Maputo via rail to the port, with two trains dispatched in June 2022 on a Free-On-Rail (“FOR”) basis. These events increased sales volume for the financial year by 40%, with record sales achieved in May 2022. These increased sales levels have been maintained post year end.
Business
G4S Botswana gross profit down P12 million
G4S Botswana Limited gross profit for the year ended 31 December 2022 declined by around P12 million, according to the company’s consolidated financial statements released by Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) this week.
G4S Botswana gross profit declined by P12, 373 000.00 from P51, 289 000.00 recorded for the year ended December 2021 to P38, 916 000.00 for the year ended 31 December 2022.
G4s Botswana provides security services to among others, financial services industry and the services include cash transportation, counting and reconciling cash, sorting of notes for use in ATMs, counterfeit detection and removal, redistribution of cash to bank branches, ATMs and retail customers. The company also collects and processes cash notes within the retail environment.
In the recent financial statements, the BSE listed security services provider noted its revenues and profits were negatively affected by increase in fuel prices and cost of proving security services. “The significant decline in gross profit for the year was as a result of the abnormal price increases on fuel, as fuel expenses increased by 88% for the full year, compared to prior year adding significantly to total cost. Additionally due to the heightened security risk environment, the business invested in enhanced security upgrades to its infrastructure specifically in the cash service line. Investment in live monitoring of all cash vehicles further added to the cost of providing service putting further pressure to total costs.”
The company recently indicated that following the increased national security risks characterized by attacks on cash in transit vehicles, the company was forced to improve security of its vehicles, by adopting the latest technology.
According to the company’s management the significant miss in Gross Profit (GP) largely drives the decline in the profit before tax (PBT) year on year. “Added to the PBT decline is the increase in administrative expenses owing to the normalization of the alarm monitoring and response (AMR) teams wherein from September 2021 Management added back the full crew complement to the AMR response crew structure which had been reduced during 2020 – effectively experiencing the full cost of this change in the whole of 2022.
G4S Botswana management meanwhile noted that its revenue for the period increased by 6.45% driven primarily by good growth in the manned guarding service line and added that the top line growth was despite the contract losses experienced during the period under review primarily because of the new Citizen Economic Empowerment (CEE) legislation. “The Cash service line grew marginally by 4% while the Electronic Security Systems (ESS) remained largely unchanged as it continues to experience intense competition from new entrants particularly in the Alarm monitoring and response (AMR) space.”
G4S Botswana management noted that the company will continue to focus on growing revenue following encouraging increases in revenue quarter on quarter for both the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2022, indicating that revenue lost during the first half of 2022 is systematically being recovered. “We will continue driving the sale of integrated security solutions to ensure that we remain at the forefront of security capability in Botswana. The trading conditions remain challenging with significantly fewer opportunities than in prior years primarily due to CEE legislation. As a response, Management continues to drive its commercial strategy of focusing on industry-specific growth such as the retail growth strategy that has driven revenue growth. The infusion of technology into our service offering has also been successful as a revenue driver. Specific focus for the year is on cost management with driving efficiencies across the business and continued fuel management aimed at managing profitability.”
G4S management noted that the company will continue to focus on improving profitability. “Despite the reduced performance of the company, in lieu of stated reasons, the Board of Directors and Management are confident of the company’s going concern status and will continue to work hard towards improved profitability in the foreseeable future.”