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| Business |
| Firm wants to check exchange losses |
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by
Aubrey Mchulu, 04 February 2004
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16:18:32
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Packaging Industries (Malawi) Limited (PIM) managing director Symon Itaye has said his company plans to make advance payments for its imported raw materials to avoid last year’s situation when PIM incurred a K32.8 million ($309,434) exchange loss.
Itaye said in his report at the company’s annual general meeting last week that the depreciation of the kwacha and scarcity of foreign currency in the last quarter of the financial year ending September 30, 2003 adversely affected profitability of the company.
He said this occurred at a time when foreign creditors were at their peak.
In an interview after the meeting, Itaye said PIM, which imports all its raw materials, is trying to manage its working capital by, among other things, holding the number of stocks it requires.
“We are trying to be paying in advance for raw materials,” he said.
Looking to the future, Itaye said PIM wants to expand its market and be more productive than in the past.
He said PIM also wants to diversify into different products and is looking at the export market.
In his statement, Itaye said coupled with PIM’s profit warning statement issued at the time of sharp depreciation of the kwacha, led to a decline in the company’s share price from K1.85 in 2002 to K1.40 at year end.
PIM’s net profits for the year ending September 30, 2003 plunged to K39.6 million from K46.5 million in the previous year.
The AGM also approved a total dividend of K13.45 million or 20 tambala per share as recommended by the Directors be declared and that the final dividend shall be payable to shareholders registered in the books of the company at the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2004. |
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