Sephaku Holdings posts net profit after tax of ZAR26.7m

Sephaku Holdings (Dangote Group) has posted net profit after tax of ZAR26.7m (US$1.54m) for the six months ended 30 September, building on the net profit after tax of ZAR17.8m it posted in the prior comparable six months.

CEO Neil Crafford-Lazarus said SepCem has been suffering from decreased demand for building materials and especially bagged cement for close to a year. The subsidiary’s sales revenue declined to ZAR1.16bn, compared with ZAR1.19bn in the prior comparable period.

The group considers the decrease as a normalisation of demand following a spike experienced at the height of COVID-19. The interest rate increase cycle from the second half of the 2021 calendar year to date and price increases in essential goods have significantly contributed to the decrease in retail demand.