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SeedCo defies El Nino, post higher FY profit
1. BH24 Reporter
HARARE –Listed seed-pro-
ducer SeedCo registered a 3
percent increase in profit after
tax to $15,4 million for the
year ended March 31, 2016
from $15 million recorded the
previous year.
The group’s turnover was
unchanged at $96 million from
prior year.
This was notwithstanding the
effects of the El Nino induced
drought, depressed commodity
prices and a general reduction
of Government input pro-
grams in the country in which
the seed-producer operates,
which affected demand for its
products.
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Friday 10 June 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
SeedCo defies El Nino, posts higher FY profit
2. Finance costs were down 39
percent $1, 9 million due to
access to cheaper loan facil-
ities. SeedCo’s gross margin
increased by 7 percent during
the period.
“This was due to the increased
efficiency in cost of sales
management through reduced
inventory write-off, as well
as value pricing in selected
markets and products in short
supply,” attributed manage-
ment.
Total sales volume down
16 percent on prior year as
a result of the challenging
exogenous factors indicated
earlier. The group’s operating
costs were up as a result of
the inclusion of the new veg-
etable business expenses and
increased market development
costs in new markets.
Trade receivables, money
owed to the business by its
debtors, stood at $42 million
at the close of the year, a 10
percent decline due to govern-
ment business being done by
through financing structures
and improved debt collection.
SeedCo’s short term borrow-
ings have also increased quite
significantly to $28,5 million.
In terms of outlook, the group
said it is going to focus on
growing its ultra-early maize
seed varieties in the region.
“There is increasing demand
for our recently released ultra-
early maize seed varieties with
the changing weather patterns
and we expect to increase
share in most markets,” said
the company in a statement
accompanying the results.
The board has recommended
a dividend of 0, 2 cents per
share.●
2 news
5. HARARE -President Robert
Mugabe has appointed mem-
bers of the Zimbabwe Land
Commission, a team tasked
to ensure accountability,
fairness and transparency in
the administration of state
agricultural land among other
things.
Addressing journalists on
Friday, Lands and Rural
Resettlement Minister Dr
Douglas Mombeshora said
President Mugabe appointed
the Land Commissioners in
terms of Section 296 of the
Constitution.
The nine member Commis-
sion is chaired by Tendai
Bare who is deputized by
Tadious Muzoroza.
Other members are Rtd
Major Abdul Nyati, Leanatte
Manjengwa, Judith Buzuzi,
Emmanuel Nyamusa, Magret
Chinhamora, Edmore Ndudzo
and Luke Buka.
The commission is also
tasked with conducting
periodical audits of agri-
cultural land and making
recommendations to Govern-
ment regarding enforcement
of any law restricting the
amount of land that may be
held by any person.
Dr Mombeshora said his
ministry had accelerated
evaluation of farms acquired
by government for resettle-
ment to establish how much
the state owes former white
farmers as compensation.
“We engaged a consultant
and we are working together
with UNDP (United Nations
Development Programme)
with the main aim being to
find consensus based com-
pensation.
“For compensation to take
place we also need to do
evaluations. So currently
we have embarked on an
accelerated valuation process
where we have 13 teams
that we have assembled
throughout our provinces and
(we
are) currently about to
finish valuations of all farms
acquired in Mashonaland
central province,” he said.
He added: “Out of the seven
districts, they have done
six so far and (are) now in
Mazowe which is the last
one. They will move to the
next province until we have
completed.”
Dr Mombeshora said upon
conclusion of evaluations,
the information would be
presented to treasury so that
Government can avail funds
for compensation.
“We are hoping that this
exercise we have embarked
on, will give us a clear pic-
ture of what the government
owes,” he said.
Government has so far fully
compensated 240 white for-
mer farmers whose farms it
acquired under the agrarian
reforms, as it moves to bring
finality to the land question.
Zimbabwe embarked on a
land reform program at the
turn of the millennium to
address colonial land own-
ership imbalances between
blacks and whites.
New Ziana.●
Zimbabwe appoints land commission
5 news
Dr Douglas Mombeshora
8. BH24 Reporter
HARARE –Listed agro-in-
dustrial firm TSL Ltd’s profit
after tax slid 64 percent to
$600 000 in the half year to
April 30, 2016 on the back of
a weak performance by the
group’s agriculture unit dur-
ing the period under review.
TSL is the holding company
of companies including TSL
Classic Leaf, Propak, Bak
Logistics, Agricura, Avis, TSF,
TSL Properties, TSL Trading
and TSL Greenbelt.
The agriculture unit, which
consists of tobacco-related
services, agricultural trading
and agricultural commodity
production were negatively
affected by the late opening
of the tobacco selling sea-
son, which resulted in group
revenue declining by 15 per-
cent to $20,7 million.
“Due to the late start of the
tobacco selling season and
to a lesser extent, the slow
uptake of agro inputs, the
revenues of the agriculture
operations were 49 percent
down on prior year,” noted
TSL in a statement accompa-
nying the results.
The group’s operating profit
at $1, 6 million was down
57 percent. The company’s
borrowings were down 8 per-
cent compared to the similar
period last year, although at
a higher level than at full-
year end due to the seasonal
nature of some of its busi-
nesses.
In respect of its other opera-
tions, management however
highlighted that a steady
performance was registered
in the logistics business,
which contributed 45 percent
of the group’s revenue.
It also said the performance
of both the logistics and
real estate operations had
mitigated the overall decline
in group revenues. The real
estate unit contributed $4,7
million to total revenue.
“The Real Estate Cluster con-
tinues to contribute strongly
although rate reductions, in
line with market trends, have
impacted profitability,” said
the group.
The board did not declare a
dividend for the period “due
to the seasonal nature of the
business.”●
8 news
TSL’s HY profitability weakens on late tobacco selling season
11. BH24 Reporter
HARARE - Electrical retail
and engineering concern
Powerspeed Electrical today
reported a drop in profita-
bility for the half year ended
March 31, 2016.
Profit after tax came down to
$161 595 from $392 827 in
the prior comparable period.
This was after operating
profit went up to $5,6 million
compared with $5,2 million
while finance costs increased
to $450 393 from $381 150.
Cost of sales also went up
to $15 million up from $14
million. Management said the
erosion of the gross margin
from 29,7 percent to 27,6
percent, was a result of the
group ‘purchasing’ market
share.
Expenses also increased as
a result of branch network
enhancement. In terms of
the trading (retail) opera-
tion, management said the
current economic challenges
were having a significant
negative impact on consumer
spending and therefore on
throughput in the group’s
stores.
Management said the engi-
neering division was affected
by the continued general
decline in agriculture, con-
struction, manufacturing and
mining. It added that is con-
sidering to exit the engineer-
ing operation.
“Although there is demand
for products and services,
there is little funding availa-
ble, and throughput was sig-
nificantly down. As a result
we have had no option but to
further reduce the resources
allocated to our engineering
operations. This conforms to
our long-standing strategy
to exit Engineering in the
most cost effective manner,”
said the group in a statement
accompanying the results.
Going forward, the group
will focus on maintaining the
Electrosales Hardware brand
and also to reduce expenses
throughout the organisation.
The board did not declare a
dividend for the “given the
relatively high level of bor-
rowings”●
11 news
Powerspeed Electrical’s HY profits drop
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12. HARARE - The mainstream
industrial Index shed 7.79
(or 7, 47 percent) on a
week-on-week basis, in a
week dominated by losses.
And in today’s trades the
index dropped 3.05 to settle
at 96.51 as beverages giant
Delta further lost $0,0458 to
close at $0,5572.
Other losers were noted
in telecoms giant Econet,
CBZ, OK Zimbabwe and
conglomerate Innscor which
moved $0,0005, $0,0100,
$0,005 and $0,0198 down to
$0,2300, $0,1000, $0,0300
and $0,1802 in that order.
On the upside, crocodile skin
producer Padenga surged
$0,0006 to close at $0,0756,
while Old Mutual added
$0,0164 to trade at $2,2677
and FBC added $0,0004 to
$0,0644.
The mining index was flat at
26.24 as Bindura, Falgold,
Hwange and RioZim were
unchanged on previous price
levels at $0,0120, $0,0050,
$0,0300 and $0,1700,
respectively. And the mining
index added 0.47 (or 1,82
percent) from the previous
week - BH24 Reporter ●
Industrials lose 7,47pc week-on-week
12 zse
14. 14 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
09 June 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 586 MW
Kariba 557 MW
Harare 20 MW
Munyati 18 MW
Bulawayo 24 MW
Imports 0 - 400 MW
Total 1490 MW
15 JUNE 2016 -- Rainbow Tourism Group 7th Annual
General Meeting; Time: Jacaranda Rooms 2 and 3 at the Rainbow Tourism Hotel and Conference Centre, 1 Pennefather Avenue,
Samora Machel Avenue West, Harare; Time: 1200 hours...
16 JUNE 2016 -- RioZim 60th Annual General Meeting; Place: No. 1 Kenilworth Road, Highlands, Harare; Time: 10.30 hours...
22 JUNE 2016 -- Zimre Holdings Limited 18th Annual General Meeting; Place: NICOZDIAMOND Auditorium, 7th Floor Insur-
ance Centre, 30 Samora Machel Avenue, Harare; Time: 1430 hours...
22 JUNE 2016 -- GB Holdings Limited Annual General Meeting; Place: Cernol Chemicals Boardroom, 111 Dagenham Road, Wil-
lowvale, Harare; Time: 11.30 hours...
23 JUNE 2016 -- Zimpapers 89th Annual General Meeting; Place: Zimpapers Ltd Boardroom, Sixth Floor Herald House, Cnr. G.
Silundika/Sam Nujoma Street, Harare; Time: 1200hrs…
24 JUNE 2016 -- Dawn Properties Annual General Meeting; Place: Great Indaba Room, at the Monomotapa Hotel, 54 Parklane,
Harare on Friday; Time: 10:00 hours...
THE BH24 DIARY
15. MAPUTO - Mozambique
President Filipe Nyusi on
Thursday fired Finance Min-
ister Adriano Maleiane, who
has been embroiled in more
than two weeks of negotia-
tions with Russia's VTB Bank
over a late $178 million loan
repayment.
A statement from Nyusi's
office gave no reason for
the dismissal and did not
say who would be replacing
Maleiane.
Mozambique Asset Manage-
ment (MAM) borrowed $535
million from VTB to build
shipyards in the capital
Maputo and the northern
town of Pemba in expec-
tation of a rapid takeoff in
the offshore gas sector but
missed a May 23 deadline
for its first loan repayment.
Restructuring the loan,
updating business plans and
bringing strategic partners
on board were all possible
ways to avoid a default on
the debt, Maleiane said on
Wednesday.
Delays to gas projects and
at least $1.35 billion of
secret government borrow-
ing have created a foreign
debt burden that threatens
to plunge one of the world's
poorest countries into eco-
nomic crisis.
Financial watchdogs from
Switzerland and Britain are
investigating Credit Suisse
and VTB Bank for arrang-
ing the heavy undisclosed
sovereign borrowing - Reu-
ters●
15
Rand slips as growth concerns, US rates
weighMozambique president dismisses finance
minister
Adriano Maleiane
regioNAL News
JOHANNESBURG -The rand
weakened on Friday as the
dollar bounced back from
recent weakness, adding
pressure further pressure
on South Africa's currency
following a string of poor
growth figures.
By 0645 GMT the rand was
0,35 percent weaker at
14,8600 per dollar, down
from an overnight high of
14,7950 as it drifted fur-
ther away from technical
resistance around 14,6000.
Bonds inched firmer in
early trade, with the bench-
mark government issue due
in 2026 cutting 0.5 basis
points to 9,045 percent.
Stocks were set to open
lower on the Top-40 when
trade resumed at 0700
GMT, with JSE securities
exchange's futures index
down 0,11 percent.
The rand was already on
the back foot after data
earlier in the week showed
the economy had con-
tracted 1,2 percent in the
first quarter, and contin-
ued to dive as the mining
output in April continued to
shrink according to figures
published Thursday.
Traders said the currency,
along with its emerging
market peers, was likely to
remain subdued ahead of a
US Federal Reserve mon-
etary policy meeting next
week.
"Now that the local markets
have weathered the recent
ratings agency activity,
the focus now shifts to the
FOMC next week," analysts
at Nedbank said in a note.
"Although any expectations
regarding interest changes
have dissipated post last
week's jobs data."
- Reuters●
16. European stocks fell, set for
their longest losing streak in
more than a month, as banks
led declines and investors
braced for monetary-policy
and political events later this
month.
Bankia SA and Banco
Santander SA slipped at
least 2,6 percent, leading a
gauge of lenders to the worst
performance among industry
groups. Carmakers also fell,
with PSA Peugeot Citroen
down 1,4 percent after a
report that 10 members of
the Peugeot family may con-
sider boosting their holding
in the company.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index
lost 1 percent at 8:27 a.m.
in London. The benchmark
kicked off this week with
gains amid a rally in oil
shares and optimism the
Federal Reserve won’t raise
rates prematurely, only to
reverse direction mid-week
as global-growth concern
resurfaced. It’s on track for
a second weekly drop, down
0,9 percent.
Investors are awaiting the
Fed’s rate decision on June
15, a referendum on June 23
that will determine Britain’s
membership in the European
Union, and Spain’s general
election three days after
that. While the European
Central Bank began buying
corporate bonds this week,
traders are skeptical it will
succeed in stimulating eco-
nomic growth.
The Stoxx 600 has struggled
to maintain momentum in
a rebound after surging 16
percent from its February
low to an April 20 high. It
has traded in a range of less
than 25 points since March,
and is still down 7,6 percent
for the year.
Among other shares active
on corporate news, Deutsche
Lufthansa AG dropped 4,5
percent after announcing the
surprise departure of Chief
Financial Officer Simone
Menne - Bloomberg●
16
European stocks decline for third day, deepening weekly retreat
Twitter Inc. said some of
its accounts were locked to
prevent potential disclosures
from hacks of other websites
that may have leaked login
credentials on the internet.
Users whose accounts may
be vulnerable were notified
and told they must reset
their passwords to gain
access to the social mes-
saging service, Twitter said
Thursday in a blog post from
Michael Coates, trust and
information security officer.
“In each of the recent pass-
word disclosures, we cross-
checked the data with our
records,” Coates said in the
post. “As a result, a num-
ber of Twitter accounts were
identified for extra protec-
tion.”
In the post, Coates said the
company is “confident the
information was not obtained
from a hack of Twitter’s
servers.”
– Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News
Twitter says some accounts locked after
password disclosures
17. Attempts to talk seriously
about the undemocratic
nature of the European
Union are consistently side-
lined.
By John King
The so-called debate on the
UK’s membership of the Euro-
pean Union has been stuck
on trade and immigration for
months now, with the same
arguments knocked back and
forwards, and channelled by a
lazy media, but the reality is
that if the UK votes for inde-
pendence on 23 June there will
be no great economic collapse
and people will come and go
as they have done across
the centuries. There will be
adjustments, but nothing com-
pared to the trauma we face
if we stay in. These issues are
distractions from the most
important question, which is
where the EU is heading.
The European Union is not
static and what we vote for
now is not what we will have
to live with in one or two
years’ time, let alone the
decades to come. The EU is a
political structure and exists
to create a single state, its
tactics outlined by founding
father Jean Monnet: “Europe’s
nations should be guided
towards the superstate without
their people understanding
what is happening. This can
be accomplished by successive
steps, each disguised as hav-
ing an economic purpose, but
17 analysis17 analysis
Why will no one talk about where the European Union is headed?
18. 18 analysis18 analysis
which will eventually and irre-
versibly lead to federation.”
The EU’s mission is clearly
stated, by one of its own,
and while Monnet’s words are
often quoted by those trying
to refocus the argument for
withdrawal, establishment bias
means they are just as often
dismissed. It is important to
talk about this, but the refusal
of the Remain side to engage
destroys any attempt at hon-
est discussion. A trade deals
does not need a president, an
anthem, a flag, a currency, a
parliament, the ability to make
law, tens of billions of pounds
of donations, its own paramili-
tary police force.
Neither does it need to plan
an army. The nature of this
body is there in the suffering
of Greece, Italy and Spain,
where debt is used to strip
back services and enforce aus-
terity and privatisation. David
Cameron and George Osborne
are enacting smaller versions
of this, which is why they are
doing everything they can to
keep Britain inside the EU.
Attempts to talk seriously
about the undemocratic
nature of the European Union
are consistently sidelined,
some of its apologists openly
questioning the importance of
sovereignty and, thereby, the
worth of an electorate. For
anyone who genuinely believes
in democracy, this is impossi-
ble to accept, and shows the
depths to which our political
class has sunk. No organisa-
tion gives up its power without
a fight, but there are less
and less ways to confront the
EU, which is going to become
increasingly arrogant and
unaccountable in the coming
years. When challenged about
its mistakes, Brussels does
not apologise, but instead
demands more control.
If we stay in the EU, the battle
to leave will intensify. Anyone
who thinks otherwise is seri-
ously mistaken. If the margin
is narrow, the backlash will be
immediate, fuelled by numbers
and a surge of anger, as the
referendum has been unfair
and the government has not
been impartial.
Few people have any real
affection for the EU, but many
will be swayed by the scare-
mongering as they are afraid
of losing their jobs and homes,
while others will choose to
protect subsidies we in effect
pay ourselves. Fear and a form
of bribery is going to distort
the vote.
The rich and powerful will of
course look after themselves,
and they are the ones the EU
benefits.
What is amazing is that after
all the years of sarcasm and
smears, when anyone who
dared speak out against the
EU was branded racist, fascist,
anarchist, a socialist/commu-
nist nutter or just plain boring,
millions of ordinary citizens
are still set to reject the
state’s propaganda.
This reflects the split between
those in positions of control
and the wider population, a
division that is only going to
worsen if we do not leave the
EU. The referendum offers us
the chance to make a clean
break.
We should not be afraid of life
outside the EU. An independ-
ence vote would be a kick in
the teeth for those in power,
a major shock to a party-po-
litical system that has refused
to represent the views of the
people.
We would be choosing democ-
racy and the decentralising
of power, and such a show of
confidence could energise the
nation. The direction of our
society will be fought over,
and we have big problems to
confront, but a negative influ-
ence will have been removed
and our destiny would be
in our own hands. With the
establishment humiliated, a
better sort of politics might
even emerge. We should be
positive, embrace change and
choose an exciting future.
– NewStatesman●