The Board of Directors of Uganda Clays Limited (UCL) on Wednesday announced that the company posted good results for the year 2020 with a net profit of 4.9 billion shillings which is a turnaround from a loss of 88 million shillings in 2019.
The significant improvement in the performance of the entity resulted in a dividend pay-out of 1.2 billion shillings (UGX 1.35 per share) to the shareholders.
This was announced by the UCL Chairman, Board of Directors, Martin Kasekende, during the company’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the economy and many businesses, UCL remained resilient, producing unprecedented results, having registered the highest profit after tax of 4.9 billion from a loss position the previous year,” said Kasenkende.
“We believe this is not a one-off good performance and the company was well and truly on a trajectory of growth and profitability, and I would therefore like to congratulate Management upon delivering a remarkable performance in 2020 in spite of the challenging business environment,” he added.
The UCL Managing Director, Reuben Tumwebaze re-echoed the entity’s resilience in the tough operating environment saying that the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst presenting challenges for the business and impacting the business, especially in the first half of the year, also acted as a catalyst for change, prompting the company to take decisive action to protect and upgrade the business.
“This included a reassessment of our costs, ensuring we are fit for the future and in a strong position to capitalize on continued improvement in our markets,” he said.
Performance Highlights
Total Assets grew by 11%; closing the year 2020 at 68.8 billion shillings from a value of 62.2 billion at the close of 2019.
Total Revenue reduced by 3% from 30.7 billion in 2019 to 29.7 billion in 2020. The drop in revenue was attributed majorly to impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the business.
The largest contributor to this revenue was the roofing tiles contributing 64%. An increase was also realised in the other income from 845 million shillings in 2019 to 1.8 billion shillings in 2020 related to interest from investments in Government securities.The Gross Margin for the year improved compared to 46% from 31% in 2019.The total overheads dropped from 11.1 billion in 2019 to 9.3 billion shillings in 2020 as a result of cost management measures put in place during the period.Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 240% to […]
