By ETimes
Listed hospitality and retail group Meikles Limited has parted ways with Messrs. Deloitte and Touche, who have been their auditors for more than 10 years, and also changed their financial year-end from 31 March to 28 February.
Accordingly, Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants (Zimbabwe) has been appointed as the company’s auditors for the year ending 28 Feb 2023.
“Shareholders are advised that the company has resolved to appoint Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants (Zimbabwe) as auditors of the company and group for the year ending 28 February 2023,” company secretary Thabani Mpofu said in a notice to shareholders.
“Messrs. Ernst & Young have formally accepted the appointment following the completion of their client acceptance process.”
The conglomerate reported an inflation adjusted net profit after tax of $2.7 billion for its half year ended 30 September 2022. The performance was a 56% decline from the 2021 comparative.
Exchange and monetary gains of $2.9 billion and $6.8 billion contributed significantly to the group’s financial performance. Otherwise, net operating profits fell by 132% to a loss of $1.28 billion, while gross profits gained 34% to $27.8 billion.
Total revenues stood at ZWL$129.3 billion. The supermarkets segment recorded revenue growth of 68% to $127.1 billion. Sales volumes grew by 38.5% during the first quarter of the period, but declined by 4.4% in the second quarter to leave overall growth at 15.46%. The group attributed the deceleration in growth to reduced consumer spending due to the restricted ZWL liquidity.
The hospitality segment reported revenue growth of 244% to $1.3 billion, as room occupancy increased from 12.9% to 32.5% during the period.
The group’s operations generated net cash flows of $3.9 billion, and net capital expenditures for the period stood at $3.6 billion.
Beyond the dampened consumer sentiment, exchange rate-related price distortions are likely to drive consumers to informal markets. ETimes thinks that this will likely constrain the group’s US dollar takings, which may be a concern given the group’s significant trade payables. It could require the group to focus more of its financial resources on maintaining working capital than on capital investments –Harare