Crown Paints Group’s regional hubs across Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda posted an improved performance in 2016 that helped to grow the company’s revenues by 9% to Ksh7.3billion.
The group’s profit before tax grew by 26% to KSh272million from KSh216.7 million in 2015 with business in the regional subsidiaries growing by an average 25 by end of December 2016.
“The regional expansion is now bearing fruits with all our subsidiaries in Rwanda and Tanzania and Uganda, which are now fully operational, posting improved performance,” said Crown Paints Group CEO Rakesh Rao.
“We expect this growth to be sustained as the local manufacturing plants based in Arusha, Mwanza and Dar-e-Salam continue to quickly turnaround customer orders and also offers a very wide choice of products in these markets.”
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Mr Rao said the steady expansion of the construction and property sector helped grow the company’s sales with the stability in the currency in Kenya and Tanzania also helping keep costs at an even level.
“We have, for example, seen a rise in demand of our eco-friendly Zero VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) products as more developers continue to be more mindful of the environment which has led to an increase in green building technologies in the region,” said Mr Rao.
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The paint manufacturer’s earning per share increased to Ksh1.85 per share from Ksh0.43 in 2015. Crown Paints directors have recommended a dividend payment of 12% or Ksh60 cents per share for the year ended 31st December 2016.
The company is expecting to introduce new products in the region by the end of 2017 with which it expects to further boost earnings. Yesterday Crown became the first paint manufacturer in the region to introduce a comprehensive loyalty programme targeted at painters and ‘fundis’ aspiring to be professional painters.
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