Customers countercheck the prices of maize flour at a supermarket in Nakuru City on April 19, 2023.
Listed firm Unga Group has narrowed its loss for the year that ended June 2024 to Sh669.5 million from Sh959.3 million previously on lower costs.
The firm has attributed the lower costs to enhanced efficiencies in its operations and a one-off gain in the exchange rate as Kenya shilling strengthened in the first six months of this year to trim its finance costs.
“Despite facing difficulties with the quality of maize due to heavy rains impacting the harvest season at the end of the first half of the financial year, we achieved a 37 per cent decrease in operating loss compared to the previous year. This was made possible by our increased commercial activities, operational efficiencies, and a stronger Kenya shilling in the latter half of the financial year,” the company said in a trading update yesterday.
Unga’s finance costs fell to Sh559.4 million from Sh784.3 million last year underlining the lower loss for the period. The manufacturer’s revenues, however, fell slightly to Sh23.7 billion from Sh24 billion previously as the company cut its product prices to incentivise customer sales.
The manufacturer has forecast a challenging operating environment in its new financial year, attributed to the disruption of global supply chains from evolving geopolitical tensions.
The firm is however betting on a stable supply of raw materials and a stable Kenya Shilling to find resilience amid economic headwinds. Unga sees global economic volatility including interest rates and currency risks as potential downsides to growth.
