Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Alois Vinga – LISTED plastics and pipe maker concern, Proplastics has recorded a 71 % export volumes growth amid strong sales volumes performance in the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
In an update, the company’s chairman, Gregory Sebborn said the positive growth in exports contributed significantly towards revenues.
“Exports grew by 71%, contributing 7% to total revenues compared to 2% recorded in the same quarter last year.
“As a result of the strong sales volumes performance, sales revenues responded positively and are 29% above budget and 187% ahead of prior year,” he said.
The group’s exports market includes countries like Zambia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The developments come at a time when many companies in Zimbabwe are shifting to boost exports in a bid to increase foreign currency revenue generation.
During the period under review, demand for the group’s products was strong despite the impact of the lockdown in the first two months of the year.
Sales tonnage for the quarter grew 93% compared to the first quarter prior year attributable to all segments of the business, namely irrigation, mining, merchants, civils and borehole drilling.
The group managed to maintain performance at the same level as prior year despite the challenges in the availability and pricing of raw materials in the quarter.
Taking advantage of the new factory’s full operation, production responded positively with plant availability of 94%.
“Consequently, the business recorded a strong earnings performance for the quarter. The current ratio improved to 1.44 from 0.71 in the similar period last year.
“Gearing remained low at 4%. Foreign creditors closed the quarter at US$585 thousand compared to US$1.5 million at the end of the year 2020,” said Sebborn.
He noted that the solid first quarter performance has set the tone for a strong performance in the first half of the year with robust contingency plans put in place to ensure constant supply of raw materials and the lockdown subsequently lifted at the end of February, the group expects that demand for the products will firm even further.
