The Board of Sechaba Brewery Holdings Limited (SBHL) has announced that the unaudited results for the half year ended 30 June 2022 will be higher than those reported for the half year ended 30 June 2021.
Sechaba Holdings is made up of two associate companies, Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) and Coca Cola Beverages Botswana (CCBB), holding 49.9 percent shareholding in each company, while the rest is held by Ab-InBev. In the financial performance for the half year ended June 2021, Sechaba’s profit before tax nearly grew from 2019’s profit of P35 million to P74.7 million.
But now fast forward to 2022, the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) quoted brewer says its profit before tax is expected to be between 22 and 27 percent higher. This translates to an increase of between P18 million and P22 million from the profit before tax for the half year ended 30 June 2021, which was P81 million.
The improvement in profits is attributed to strategies employed by SBHL associate companies in their quest to continuously enhance their performance.
“The process of finalising the results is still underway and full details on SBHL performance will be shared when the financial results are released on or before 30 September 2022. Accordingly, the shareholders of SBHL have been advised to exercise caution when trading in the company’s securities until a full announcement is made”, reads part of the statement from Sechaba board.
The latest financial performance projections suggest that challenging days could be over for the local brewer following hardships in 2020 and 2021 brought by the Covid 19 pandemic. The company had to endure several months of alcohol prohibition resulting in a negative impact on the sales volumes due to the curfew and other restrictions on trading. In addition, the sugar tax introduced by the Botswana government in April 2021 posed another risk to Sechaba’s business as it made some of their non-alcoholic drinks expensive.
