Sephaku Holdings reports net loss in 1HFY19-20

South Africa’s Sephaku Holdings has reported a loss of ZAR7.7m (US$521,582) for the six months ending 30 September 2019, compared with a ZAR26.5m net profit in the year-ago period.

In particular, Sephaku Cement (Dangote Cement) announced a ZAR21.6m net loss against a ZAR44.9m profit in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Sales revenue decreased 16.9 per cent YoY to ZAR996.9m from ZAR1.2bn, while its EBITDA fell 40.7 per cent to ZAR151.5m.

"The operating landscape had resulted in some competitors engaging in extremely aggressive marketing tactics to secure market share," said Lelau Mohuba, CEO. "The consequences of these tactics included the growth of blenders, owing to the price competition in bulk cement supply and irrational pricing in the mixed concrete markets."