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John Moxon

MEIKLES Limited says it has sold $37 million worth of Treasury Bills received from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year as part payment of a $90,8 million debt owed by the government from 1998.

The company received $49,6 million in TBs but complained that they were unattractive to investors as they offered a two percent yield over five years.

In a statement accompanying financial results, executive chairman John Moxon said the group had no more TBs to sell.

“It’s important to note that subsequent to March 31, 2015, the company has sold, or is about to enter into agreements to sell, Treasury bills to the nominal value of $37,6 million and will then have no further treasury bills to sell.

“The company is confident that it will receive the value for the remaining debt due by the RBZ, which in the company’s opinion, amounted to $46,2 million as at March 2015,” he said.

In the full year to March 2015, the company made a loss of $34,5 million down from a profit of $37,2 million in the prior year. The company reported a jump in operating losses to $10,3 million from $0,9 million last year and also accounted for finance costs of $12,5 million and a provision for discount on RBZ balances of $14,7 million.

Headline loss per share was 167 percent up on prior year at 4,38 cents. As a result of the loss, the board did not declare a final dividend although an interim dividend on $0,02 per share was declared in December 2014, bringing the final dividend to $0,02. Turnover for the period went up eight percent to $413,3 million from $384,3 million recorded in the prior year.

Moxon said the group’s hospitality division reported a five percent increase in revenue to $16,4 million from $15,6 million in the prior year.

This was a result of a 13 percent increase in food revenue at Meikles Hotel and a 15 percent growth in revenue per available room at the Victoria Falls Hotel. He said the group was looking at ventures within the country and the region to grow revenues.

“Recently, the group was invited by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss potential investment and co-operation opportunities between DRC and Meikles Limited in the areas of agriculture, hospitality and retail,” he said.

The stores division, which include the Meikles mega market and Meikles stores reported revenue of $17,3 million, up from $14,5 million in the previous period while the supermarkets division (TM and Pick’n Pay) achieved a 7,9 percent increase in turnover to $360 million from $333,9 million. The agriculture division however reported a decrease in turnover due to declines in world tea commodity prices, which pushed Tanganda revenues to $21,1 million in the review period from $22,6 million.

Unreliable weather patterns in the previous season resulted in a four percent reduction in the volume of bulk tea produced to 8,609 tonnes from 9,000 tonnes in the prior period. Overall EBITDA was at $0,5 million down from $7,8 million in the prior year. — BH24.