Saturday, February 8, 2025

BotswanaPost revenue rises as group merges some of its subsidiaries

BotswanaPost has recorded 17 percent growth in its revenue for the period that ended March 2016, the group’s latest annual report has shown. In March 2015, the group reported that its total income sat at P367 million but the figure has went up by 30 percent resulting in P477 million by March 2016. 

The government owned entity also recorded an upward movement in its cost of sales which increased by 21 percent while the gross margin improved by 4 percent. 

Still during the year under review, the government disbursed P40 million to provide relief for BotswanaPost’s provision of Universal Services Obligation (USO). 

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cornelius Ramatlhakwane says during the period, as a result of the Botswana Postal and Savings Group, Botswana Post subsidiary was transferred to the group structure. The move resulted in a loss on disposal of the subsidiary of P10.2 million. He further stated that it had an impact on the comprehensive income, which then increased loss to P27.5 million, albeit better than the prior year’s restated loss of P36.5 million.

“Our capital continues to be eroded by the losses we make. However, we have now turned the corner and this will help curb this erosion,” he stated in the report.

He observed that also, the support from government through the USO disbursement will help in accelerating the recovery.  He is of the view that the cash flow continues to improve adding that this has helped them improve their liquidity.

He revealed that although the parastatal didn’t reach its target of becoming a P500-million revenue company by the end of March 2016 and having a cost-to-income ratio of 60 percent, they are proud of the high revenue growth of 17 percent to P429-million. 

“We decided to check if the company is indeed “fit to serve” and “fit for growth” by doing the operational efficiency and performance improvement scan, which is like a health check for companies,” Ramatlhakwane stated.

During the period under review, BotswanaPost, a subsidiary of the Botswana Postal and Savings Group, was transferred to the Botswana Post and Savings Group. The group is said to be now the holding company of BotswanaPost, Botswana Couriers and Botswana Savings Bank. 

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