UCHUMI SUPERMARKETS PROFIT UP 7.6% IN YEAR TO JUNE 2014

Dar es Salaam. Uchumi supermarkets recorded a 7.6 per cent increase in its profit after tax for the year ended June.

The retail chain whose shares trade on Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania stock exchanges posted Sh6.92 billion profits this June compared to Sh6.43 billion the year ended June in 2012, the firm said in its group consolidated statement published yesterday.

The group was temporary closed following financial difficulties it faced in 2006 and became de-listed from the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).

The chairperson of the board of directors, Ms Khadija Mire, has proposed earning per share of Sh26.1, more than Sh24.3 per share paid in the same period last year.

Despite recording the growth and profit for consecutive years, the group’s operation faced a number of challenges during 2013/2014 that affected its economic and social environment.

Euro debt crisis, general elections in Kenya, high cost of living and borrowing affecting infrastructure development and customer propensity to spend all challenges the retail market’s operations.

“Total group sales registered a marginal growth of one per cent due to the drop during the year in Uganda subsidiary by 12 per cent mainly attributed to competition, supply chain challenges and some locations becoming untenable due to infrastructural and tenancy mix challenges,” she said, adding that the challenges would lead to divestiture and relocation.

The Citizen