By ETimes
HARARE – TSL’s inflation adjusted revenue for the third quarter ended 31 July 2023 rose 229% to $66.8 billion from $20.3 billion in the comparative period, thanks to strong volume growth, particularly in tobacco-related businesses.
Accordingly, the TSL’s topline benefited from the increased US dollar transactions on the market as more companies now pay salaries using the greenback amid ZWL liquidity shortages.
“US dollar portion of revenue for the quarter grew by 47% when compared to prior year,” the company said in a trading update.
“Profitability continued to grow, driven by improved operating efficiencies and increased capacity utilisation. Group borrowings are foreign currency denominated and remain low with adequate interest cover.”
The company focused on improving shareholder value and operational capacity.
“The group continued to generate positive operating cash flows and has reinvested in the expansion of operations and payment of dividends to shareholders,” the company said.
As of agricultural operations, the Tobacco Sales Floor cumulatively handled 51.9 million kgs of tobacco, representing a 125% increase on prior year’s 23.1 million kgs.
“The strategy to serve the much larger contracted tobacco market is yielding fruit, with 75% of the total volumes handled coming from this segment,” the company said.
“These positive results are, in large measure, attributable to a larger national tobacco crop, successful decentralisation of operations and the acquisition of new customers.”
Volumes at Propak Hessian rose 17% on stock availability and a larger tobacco crop size.
Tobacco paper volumes were up 90% as the market continued to respond positively to the locally coated paper.
Agricura’s performance for the quarter was mixed.
“While some product lines performed better than the previous year on the back of product availability and competitive pricing, other product lines were lower than budget due to depressed demand.”
On tobacco, soya beans, and commercial maize, higher yields were obtained in the farming activities than the previous year.
“The new banana plantation started production in the year resulting in improved volumes,” the company said.
Volumes increased across all logistical divisions as a result of the new business model, which serves the client across the value chain.
As the company continues to develop its volumes from both new and existing clients, Premier Forklift volumes were 17% higher than the comparable period last year.
Due to a decline in foreign arrivals during this time, Avis’ rental days were lower than those of the preceding year.
On the real estate operations,
The company started work on a brand-new, 15,000-square-meter,top-of-the-line warehouse.
“Voids improved to 7% from 12% in the prior year due to improved demand for warehouse space,” it said.
In the outlook, the group will keep working on important strategic projects in accordance with its “moving agriculture” strategy.