At the start of the year, the paints manufacturer Crown Paints issued a profit alert signaling a profit decline of more than 25 percent in the 2018 full year results. Nonetheless, the company posted a 17.7 percent drop in net earnings from KSh223 million to KSh184 million as per the published report.
The company attributed the decline in profit to harsh business and political conditions in regional markets like Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Tanzania recorded sluggish economic growth which translated to lower revenues for the company. Rwanda and Uganda experienced some political turbulence which subsequently led to a decline in the construction sector. The firm’s primary market, Kenya, experienced improved business and as a result, its total revenue grew.
The manufacturer posted a 13 percent increase in gross revenues from KSh7.35 billion recorded in 2017 to KSh8.3 billion in 2018. Pretax profit declined by 1 percent to reach KSh396 million from KSh398 million posted the previous year.
Crown Paints released its full-year results on 10th May, ten days after the deadline for publishing full-year results. The company requested for more time from the capital markets regulator to consolidate its financial reports from regional subsidiaries.
Directors of Crown Paints recommend a dividend payout of Sh0.60 per share for 2018. The amount is unchanged from 2017’s dividend payout.