BY PAUL TENTENA
KAMPALA, UGANDA – British American Tobacco Uganda unaudited financials for the first half of the year June 2017, show a significant decline in profits by 52.13% to Ush3.50Bn ($0.97Mn) from Ush7.32Bn ($2.03Mn) in the same period last year.
This is tagged on the profits from cigarette sales that fell by more than half.
However, the Profit after Tax (PAT) for EABL, trading as Uganda Breweries Ltd in Uganda, increased by 6.16% to Ksh8.51Bn ($81.97Mn) from last year’s Ksh8.02Bn ($77.21Mn).
The recording of the profit was boosted by sales growth in value segments, spirits and the company’s innovations across East Africa.
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Ngule Larger in Uganda was one of the top sellers together with Tusker Cider in Kenya and Serengeti Lite in Tanzania. The group’s revenues advanced 9.21% to Ksh70.24Bn ($676.23Mn).
BAT’s Total Operating expenses for the period increased 12.37% in the first half to Ugx27.40Bn ($7.60Mn) while operating profit dropped by 45.50% to Ugx9.8Bn ($1.48Mn) according to the figures the company released over the weekend.
This, the company attributed it to an undisclosed one-off cost used to support compliance with the Tobacco Control Act.
The Total costs for EABL declined by 4.14% to Ksh17.82Bn ($172.12Mn) as their operating expenses declined 1.75% to Ksh17.4Bn ($168.03Mn) on reduced selling and distribution costs.