eBusiness Weekly
Musarurwa—
HARARE – Increased revenues for Omnia Fertilizer Zimbabwe in the year to March 31, 2018 helped boost the South African-headquartered group’s profitability.Omnia Holdings is a chemicals and fertiliser manufacturer.
The group reported a reported a 12 percent increase in full-year profit on the back of a positive performance in its agriculture unit. Omnia’s Agriculture division comprises Fertilizer RSA, Fertilizer International and Agriculture Trading.
And increased sales in the Zimbabwean subsidiary of the agriculture unit contributed to gross profit.
Omnia Holdings said an exceptional performance in Zimbabwe where the change in political leadership and renewed focus on the agriculture sector which coupled with significant inflation, boosted margins in the retail business.
“Agriculture International increased revenue by 5, 2 percent driven by the increase in the demand for K-humate sales in various countries, the expansion of the retail business in Zambia and higher selling prices in Zimbabwe due to the impact of the high inflation economy and increased demand for agrochemical sales following the change in political regime with a renewed focus on the agriculture sector in that country,” said the group in a statement accompanying the results.
Going forward, the group’s management expects to leverage the agriculture unit on growth in its subsidiaries outside South Africa.
“The agriculture division is expected to benefit from a more diverse business which includes international growth as well as diversification into other crops as well as new services and solutions,” said the group.
Meanwhile, the group’s headline earnings per share (HEPS) jumped to 991 cents during the period under review, from 881 cents in the prior comparable period.
HEPS is the main profit measure used in South Africa.
The group’s chemical division’s operating profit of 146 million rand ($10, 8 million) during FY2017 was a marginal growth.
Its mining division’s operating profit declined 1 percent to 387 million rand.
