Furmart Holdings, the emerging regional appliances and home-ware legion, saw its profits beating its own expectations but warned of dark clouds of subdued economic climate in the key market,┬áBotswanaÔÇö┬áwith a silver lining in the last quarter of the year.
The colour coded half year results to January 31, 2011, are underpinned by impressive revenue growth and earnings per share that gives confidence to the market about the future prospects of the company.
Furmart is aimed at increasing its footprint across the region, including Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. It is one of the best Botswana brand exports with over 80 outlets across the region, competing head to head with its South African counterparts.
The Mynhardts┬áare┬áthe father and son acting as chairman and managing directorÔÇögave the six months results a stamp of approval by appending their signatures which showed growth of their business empire.
The results showed an┬á improvement in┬á the┬á an unaudited of 21 percent to P 424.8 million┬á while basic earnings per shareÔÇöthe guiding principle in business performance and shareholders’┬á valueÔÇöwas faster by┬á 26 percent to┬á 92.65 thebe compared to the corresponding period last year.
The group, headed by the older man, John Mynhardt, the down-to-earth but one of the top wealthiest man, is planning to grow its outlets across the region.
Mynhardt is a prolific businessman with direct interest in CB Stores, Home Corp, Taku Taku, Koko, Riverwalk Mall, Mafenyatlala Mall and Kwando Safaris in the northern part of the country and South Africa.
 He also has some interests in Molapo Crossing Mall as well as owning properties wherever his businesses operate.
“The group will focus on improving the structure in order to support growth and it is currently busy consolidating its South African administration and warehousing operations into one large distribution centre in Isalando.
“The move is expected to significantly reduce supply chain drag and will enable the group to maintain its growth tempo without sacrificing efficiency,” Mynhardt co-signed the statement with his son, Tobias.
He said Furmart will adopt a business opportunistic mood in its future growth strategy across the southern African region where it already operates.
In South Africa, the group is undergoing some re-branding from Xtreme store to Furnmart and is geared to benefit from the larger South African population which tops 40 million but it will face resistance from some of the already existing and Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed stores such as Ellerines and Joshua Doore, which have close to 200 outlets in that country alone. The same applies to Zambia, which has a population of over 11 million people.
The company declared dividend of 30.88 thebe a piece.
