Nampak engages Govt to regain control of estates
LISTED paper and packaging group, Nampak Zimbabwe Limited, is still engaged with the Government over a possibility of regaining control of its estates.
On account of the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement with South Africa, the group has engaged authorities over talks to reclaim its plantations.
In a trading update for the quarter and nine months ended June 30,2021, Nampak said:
“We continue to engage with the relevant authorities to regain effective control over our estates.
“It remains our intention to rehabilitate them for timber and agricultural purposes in line with Government’s declared thrust in this direction.
“Progress has been made at Maganga Estate where our eviction notice was implemented, with families concerned being resettled in another part of the estate.”
Once the Estates are regained, the company has announced the intention to rehabilitate them for timber and agricultural purposes.
The national thrust for production should see Zimbabwe with a US$8,2 billion agriculture economy by 2025. This is underpinned by the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy, which was launched by President Mnangagwa last year. For the third quarter under review, the group’s revenue was 37 percent ahead of prior year
quarter in inflation adjusted terms and 234 percent in historical terms.
The cumulative revenue in inflation adjusted terms for the nine months period was 26 percent ahead of prior year period and 336 percent above the same period in historical terms.
“This was due to growth in sales volumes and adjustments of selling prices to reflect the economic trends.
“The availability of raw materials remained challenging. The group’s units traded profitably in the period under review,” said Nampak.
The manufacturing concern operates units that include Hunyani Paper and Packaging, Mega Pak and CarnaudMetalbox.
On Hunyani, Nampak said volumes were 38 percent up for the quarter and 23 percent ahead for the nine months compared to the prior year period.
“Volumes in the commercial sector grew by 63 percent on prior year nine-month period led by improved demand and ongoing customer recovery.
“The year-to-date decline in export market was 19 percent due to Covid-19 impact on regional markets,” it said.
At Mega Pak, volumes increased by 60 percent in the quarter and by 59 percent for the nine months due to increased demand across all areas of the business.
Nampak said improved volumes continued in the beverages manufacturing sector.
On CarnaudMetalbox, the group said volumes grew by 69 percent and 23 percent for the quarter and the nine months respectively compared to the previous financial periods.
Cumulative metal volumes were up seven percent with food can and crowns leading the recovery despite a shortage of tinplate.
“Plastics performance was mixed with higher HDPE bottle volumes 52 percent ahead of the previous year being off-set by a decline in injection closure volumes, which were eight percent below the prior period,” it said.
During the period under review, Nampak managed to dispose of Softex Tissue Products (Private) Limited.
“An agreement was reached with ART Holdings Limited for purchase of the entire shareholding of our 50 percent share in Softex Tissue Products (Private) Limited.
“The investment, which was marked as a ‘for sale’ asset at the interim reporting, was not material to our business operations.
“Payments for the sale have commenced and various regulatory aspects concerning the sale are in progress,” it said.
In the fourth quarter, Nampak projects that performance is likely to be impacted as a result of recent disturbances in South Africa, which may affect the firm’s supply chain logistics and also by the bottlenecks in the global supply chain.
“The outlook is premised on continued access to the current levels of foreign exchange through the auction system,” it said. — chronicec.zw
