Diversified industrial holding company, CFI Holdings Limited’s volume sales for the first quarter (Q1) ended 31 December 2019 declined 17 percent from comparable period in the prior year on account of diminishing consumer power in the hyper inflationary environment.
Despite fixing its eyes on long-term goals by focusing on strengthening its capital structure, macro-economic headwinds were less favorable to push sales during the period.
“Sales volumes during the period declined by 17% relative to the prior year largely due to the impact of erosion of disposable incomes.
“This was characterized by subdued consumer demand as a result of prolonged power outages, the continued depreciation of the Zimbabwe Dollar, a re-emergence of hyperinflation, the subsequent erosion of disposable incomes and high unemployment rates,” the company said in a statement.
However, the Group’s focus remained on strengthening the Group’s capital structure and preparing the Group for further growth.
On January 31, 2020, Group subsidiary, Crest Poultry Group exited judicial management and efforts are ongoing to also ensure Victoria Foods also exits judicial management before the financial year ending 30 September 2020.
During the period, another subsidiary, Farm & City (‘FCC’) extended its operations by opening two branches, one in Harare and the second one in Bulawayo while the Agrifoods stock feeds range received commendable market acceptance.
The company has also invested in alternative energy sources to mitigate effects of intermittent power supply.
“The erratic grid power supply and escalating fuel costs significantly impacted running costs. In order to mitigate the effect of the energy crisis, FCC continues to deploy solar equipment and hybrid batteries across its retail network to mitigate the challenge,” said the company.
The company remains suspended from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange for failure to comply with listing requirements
