AFRICA – Seed Co International Limited (SCIL), has recorded a 26% spike in revenue to US$88.5 million in the year ended March 2021, compared to US$70.1 million achieved in the prior year.

According to the seed producer, the revenue growth is attributed to doubling of income in Malawi to US$18.4m, benefiting from the huge government Inputs program.

The same performance was reflected in Nigeria albeit from a low base of US$1.1m last year, due to increased confidence in the Seed Co brand, supported by institutional sales under a program funded by the Central Bank.

Kenya sales surged 46% to US$12.4m boosted by both local & export demand with significant rise in DRC, Mozambique and Botswana.

Meanwhile, in both Zambia and Tanzania, sales grew by 7% to US$28.7m and US$17.7m respectively due to attractive grain prices which improved seed uptake & planted area.

Seed Co International Limited’s profit surged 81 percent to US$11.1 million

During the period under review, maize seed continued to dominate both revenue & volume contribution driven by strong demand in all markets, recording 24.7% growth in sale volume.

Meanwhile, wheat seed sales dropped compared to last year on account of advance sales at the end of the last financial year as farmers stocked up in fear of Covid-19 lockdown.

Soybean on the other hand, increased from tender sales to Mozambique and open market sales in Zambia. Other sales include bean in Mozambique & Malawi, rice in Nigeria, cowpea in Botswana & sorghum in Kenya.

SeedCo International Chief Financial Officer Mr John Matorofa indicated that the group’s gross profit was US$43.8 million compared to US$34.3 million attained the previous year.

An operating profit of US$18.1 million was achieved which was 30 percent above the US$13.9 recorded in the previous year.

Overall, the group’s profit surged 81 percent to US$11.1 million from US$6.1 million, driven by robust revenue growth and cost savings.

Seed Co mulls investments to bolster operations.

As part of its operational upgrades, the Botswana Stock Exchange listed company, commissioned a new seed processing & packaging plant in Nigeria, with its other seed processing plants across the region, undergoing off-season maintenance in preparation.

The company has revealed that the planned plant capacity upgrades in Kenya and Tanzania are still on schedule.

In Tanzania, the seed company is seeking to establish a new seed processing factory in Iringa, worth TSH 10 billion (US$4.3m).

The new processing facility is an addition to the company’s existing factory located in Arusha, established in 2009.

It will have a processing capacity of 40 tonnes of maize and other seeds per day, meeting the high demand of quality seeds in the country and serving the rest of the East African Community (EAC) region i.e., Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.

Meanwhile, Seed Co recently abandoned plans of acquiring its Zimbabwean subsidiary, Seed-Co Limited (SCL), after failing to get all the regulatory approvals.

The development means that SCIL and SCL will continue to operate as 2 separate companies, listed on the United States dollar denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), respectively.

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