CA Sales adds new operation in Lesotho
The group is well- placed for growth, but in light of the current uncertainty, we adopted a more conservative approach to expansion and capital expenditure during the past year and for the near future.
CA Sales Holdings Limited will launch its new facility in Lesotho by the third quarter of this year, despite uncertain trading conditions due to the Covid- 19 situation.
The group Chief Executive Officer, Duncan Lewis said they will continue to expand in Lesotho. “We continue to expand in Lesotho and our local facility is expected to be commissioned by Q3 of this year and will provide us a platform to grow with both existing and new clients.”
However, he said the outlook of the year is challenging as there is uncertainty about the continued impact of Covid- 19, potential further lockdowns, currency volatility, electricity supply and unemployment in the country. “Undoubtedly, we will face headwinds, but we are confident we have the plans, quality management and financial resources in place to execute our clients’ objectives and deliver on stakeholder expectations. Our focus, therefore, is to ensure we remain agile, customercentric, future fit and are confident that our plans, albeit ambitions, will be realised.”
CA Sales group operates in seven Southern African countries, including Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The company highlighted that the ban on alcohol products had a significant impact on the group’s sales for the first quarter of 2021. Commenting on the Group’s 2020 annual report,
CA & S Group Chief Financial Officer, Frans Reichert pointed out that due to shifts in the shopper product mix, with alcoholic products not being sold for a substantial portion of the year, gross profit only increased with 6.2 percent last year to R1.1 billion. Net profit after taxation grew by 10.7 percent to R230.6 million last year.
The group recorded increase in revenue by 11.2 percent to R7.9 billion in the year ended December 2020. Headline earnings per share increased slightly to 51.43 cents, due to Covid- 19 impact. Reichert said CA& S is confident that the healthy balance sheet allows business continuity and growth, despite the lingering effect of the Covid- 19 outbreak. “The ban on sales of alcoholic products had a significant impact on the group’s sales for quarter one of 2021. The total impact cannot be quantified as yet as it is still unknown at this point if there will be a third wave of the virus outbreak and further trading bans or lockdowns implemented in the countries that we operate in.”
For his part, CA Sales Group Chairman, Jonathan Holtzhausen said the group has adopted a more conservative approach last year and will continue in the near future. “The group is wellplaced for growth, but in light of the current uncertainty, we adopted a more conservative approach to expansion and capital expenditure during the past year and for the near future.”