Mumias Sugar Company sinks deeper into debt as it records Sh15.1 billion loss

The ailing sugar company recorded a Sh15.1 billion loss - more than double the previous loss of Sh6.8 billion it recorded in 2017.
The miller, which has in the recent years received billions of shillings in bailout from the government, blamed the losses on shortage of sugarcane for milling.
It will be another dry year for Mumias shareholders as the directors have not recommended a dividend.

Kenyan farmers and Shareholders have nothing to smile about after Mumias Sugar Company sunk dipper into the red.

The ailing sugar company recorded a Sh15.1 billion loss - more than double the previous loss of Sh6.8 billion it recorded in 2017 - in the year ending June 2018.

Mumias Sugar Company ece-auto-gen

The miller, which has in the recent years received billions of shillings in bailout from the government, blamed the losses on shortage of sugarcane for milling, which interrupted its operations.

“The acute cane shortage significantly hindered the plant throughputs with cane delivered dropping by 32 per cent to 283,435 tonnes compared with 417,347 in the last financial year,” says the board’s chairman Kennedy Ngumbau.

Also read: Mauritius is eyeing a piece of Kenya’s struggling sugar industry and hopes to turn it around

Mumias Sugar Company Board Chairman Kennedy Ngumbau Mulwa (left). Pulse Live Kenya

The firm also attributed the steep rise in losses on a 101 percent increase on impairment charges to the plant and machinery to Sh4.9 billion from Sh2.6 billion charged in the previous year.

Workers arrange packets of sugar on a conveyor belt at the Mumias sugar factory in western Kenya Reuters

The turnover for the year under review declined to Sh1.37 billion down from Sh2.09 billion in the previous season.

It will be another dry year for Mumias shareholders as the directors have not recommended a dividend.

Bittersweet moment for Kenyan farmers and shareholders as Sugar Company records $151 million loss

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