Apex profit up nearly tenfold

Apex Corporation, one of the best performers on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange so far this year, had a good first half with turnover for the six months to April surpassing that for the entire year ending October and nearly five times that for the first half of last year.

The sales increased from $1.6 billion in the first half of last year to $5.8 billion this year with total sales for the year ending October at $4.3 billion. Operating profit increased from $231.4 million to $1.7 billion while profit after tax stood at $1.2 billion, up from $126.8 million. The profit for the year ending October was $633.4 million.

Sales in the communications and printing division shot up from $380 million to $1.6 billion while those in the foundry division increased from $320 million to $1.2 billion. Profit before tax for the foundry division was, however, higher at $538 million, up from $39 million while that in the communications and printing division rose from $23 million to $105.8 million.

The company says it expects Philpott and Collins as well as the printing arms, Bardwells and RCP/Belmont to improve their operations in the second half. In the foundry division, Zimcast had the highest sales which were boosted by exports. Exports from McMeekan and Precision Grinders are expected to grow in the second half to complement the growth of Zimcast.

The company says its foreign subsidiary, Falkirk Trading made a profit of R779 000 and expectations for the second half were encouraging.

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