Willdale sets sight on regional markets

WILLDALE says it has set its sights on exporting its products to Mozambique and Zambia to boost its foreign currency generation.
The brickmaker’s chief executive, Nyasha Matonda, recently told The Financial Gazette that Mozambique will be the starting point for the regional push.
“We have had serious inquiries coming through and we have been there as well. So, we are now just working on the logistics to move product into Mozambique,” he said.

“We are also starting again to look at Zambia; it’s not a new market for us; it’s something that we want to revive because I think the previous challenges were on the logistics side, where we were saying pay us first and the Zambians were saying deliver the product first.
“So that created some challenges, but I think it is something that we want to revive now that the economies of both countries are more stable, which should work in our favour to move products into Zambia.”
This comes as foreign exchange flows have been thin within the country’s formal channels due to confidence issues.
Willdale’s inflation-adjusted revenue for the first five months to February 2023 increased by 30 percent compared to the same period in the prior year.
Sales volumes were, however, nine percent below the prior year.
“The first half of the year will result in induced profitability due to lower-than-expected volumes.
“We expect profitability to improve in the second half of the financial year,” Matonda said at the company’s annual general meeting held recently.
Poor electricity supply has hampered the company’s operations, particularly in the extrusion and firing of structured kilns, resulting in reduced output.
The company expects to ride on the huge demand for housing despite the challenging operating environment.
The brickmaker reported an inflation-adjusted profit after tax of $4,3 billion for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2022, representing a 537 percent rise from the previous year.
Fair value gains of $1,6 billion and monetary gains of $4,1 billion significantly contributed to the company’s performance.
Operating profit was down 137 percent to a loss of $357 million, as the company reported net exchange losses of $66 million.
Operating expenses increased by 49 percent in inflation-adjusted terms, which caused the operating expenses-to-revenue ratio to increase to 25 percent from 18 percent in the previous year.
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