Illovo eyes K34 billion half-year profit
Malawi Stock Exchange-listed Illovo Sugar Malawi has said it sees an after-tax profit of between K32 billion and K34.5 billion in the half year period ended February 28 2023.
The firm said this on Tuesday in a statement signed by Company Secretary Maureen Kachingwe.
During the same period last year, Illovo posted an after-tax profit of K9.2 billion.
A profit of K34.5 billion would mean the company’s profitability has jumped up by 275 percent.
Kachingwe was not immediately available for a comment.
On October 21 last year, Illovo Malawi hiked the price of sugar by 35 percent. The hike saw the price of a 1 kg packet of sugar jumping from K1,100 to K1,500.
The firm justified the price hike, saying trends on parallel market, foreign exchange rates between the Malawi Kwacha and neighbouring countries’ currencies has made products from Malawi comparatively cheaper, hence creating room for illegal exports into the three neighbouring countries and beyond.
“This situation has created a risk that Malawi could run out of sugar and other products that are similarly being illegally exported. Therefore, to mitigate this risk and ensure sustained supply, it was necessary that sugar prices be adjusted upwards.
“This will also help us avoid much higher prices that would prevail if we run out of sugar and traders had to import sugar,” Illovo said in a statement last year.
