ZSE-listed industrial conglomerate, ART Holdings recorded a 10 percent upsurge in overall output during the Half Year (HY) trading period to 31 March on account of strong performance in the battery making segment.
The Conglomerate which owns battery making entities, Chloride Zimbabwe, Chloride Zambia and Exide Express also witnessed a 5 percent increase in export volumes.
ART is also the holding company of pen-maker Eversharp, Mutare Board and Paper Mills, Kadoma Paper Mills and Softex Tissue Products.
“The Group’s overall volumes for the half year grew by 10% compared to prior year with growth being driven by automotive and industrial batteries,”
“The improved power supply in the second quarter and the furnace extraction system upgrade enabled the batteries business segment to increase product availability. Volumes were also boosted by increased industrial standby batteries for the energy sector,” the Group said in a statement issued on the ZSE website.
Battery volumes were 31 percent higher than comparable period last year, the highest mover, while pen volumes from Eversharp also improved 11 percent with paper volumes dropping 33 percent owing to shortages of raw materials.
“The Group increased imports of waste paper from Botswana and South Africa during the period in order to sustain tissue production as local waste paper volumes continued to decline,” said the company.
Softex tissue volumes were also affected by raw material shortages and decreased by 27 percent.
Despite a tough quarter characterized by inflation, the Group managed to post a profit of 97 percent (inflation adjusted) and 921% (historical).
This was largely influenced by commendable export revenue during the period which grew by 206 percent (historical).
However the company said revenue growth performance remains distorted by the continued existence of multiple exchange rates.
