ALCOHOL BAN TAKES TOLL ON KBL
Profits fall by 21 percent
Sechaba Brewery Holdings Limited (SBHL) has announced that its associate, Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL), has suffered a 21 percent drop in profits after tax for the period ended 31 December, 2020.
This follows a tough trading year for the liquor industry following two bans on liquor trade with the other ban lasting for two months.
For the period under review, KBL registered a profit after tax of P239.5 million, from P302.7 million recorded in the same period last year.
This came on the backdrop of KBL volumes sold declining by 29 percent during the course of 2020.
Sechaba has blamed the falling profits on the measures taken to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country such as the cancellation of the sale of alcohol and the reduction in operating hours of restaurants and other outlets that would otherwise have traded in the products of the company.
As a result, Sechaba Managing Director, Thabo Matthews, said only Coca Cola Beverages Botswana (CCBB), another associate of Sechaba, was the only one to declare a dividend while KBL did not as the operating environment remains uncertain.
Matthews said the business environment continues to be presented with challenges and says the measures put in place to control the pandemic have brought about significant challenges to its operating environment.
He also noted that the recently introduced sugar tax is expected to have a significant adverse impact on CCBB.
Meanwhile, on Monday KBL announced it would be implementing new hiked prices for its products effective the 1st of April this year.
The company said it annually sees it fit to review product pricing to adjust for inflation and other cost increases, such as the recent announcement on Value Added Tax (VAT).
However, the stock delivered and received by a customer before the 1st of April will be charged at the current rate while stock captured but not delivered and received by a customer before this date will have a new price.
Most of the KBL products will have new prices across all sizes, with exception of a few such as Corona Extra and the Castle Lite 500ml can whose prices remain unchanged.