Listed contracting and industrial group, Masimba Holdings Limited says it expects to finish the current year on a strong note thanks to a firm and well-balanced order book with average tenures of between three to twelve months.
In its third quarter (Q3) trading update, the company said its results for the year ended 31 December 2022 are forecasted to be significantly ahead of the comparative period prior year.
The group has been buoyed by government’s ongoing infrastructure projects as well as the private housing boom in the last two years although exchange rate volatility presented problems until recently when it achieved some semblance of stability.
“We applaud the Government on the policy interventions which have culminated in a stable foreign currency exchange rate regime. This has, resultantly, created an improved environment for the execution of infrastructure projects,” said Masimba in its update.
Since May, government has further tightened money supply in the economy by introducing a Value for Money Process with its suppliers who were overcharging for their services. It introduced gold coins which have since mopped up excess liquidity and resulted in the stability of the Zimbabwe dollar.
The Group’s Q3 revenue (Inflation adjusted) to September improved by 70 percent from the comparative period.
The growth was on the back of an improved order book in the Roads & Earthworks, Mining and Housing Infrastructure. Profitability in the period remained satisfactory, despite inflationary cost pressure increases.
“The business maintained favorable liquidity and gearing ratios through implementation of robust and stringent working capital strategies, notwithstanding the liquidity constraints that prevailed in the market following the temporary suspension of local payments by National Treasury.”
Capital and investment property expenditure incurred at USD7,001,358 (December 2021: USD11,427,515), was mainly to support the growing order book as well as a value preservation strategy and this was funded from a combination of internal resources and vendor supply credit facilities
