Windhoek
With 4 300 shareholders, about 700 employees, 19 branches countrywide and an annual turnover of N$2.1, billion, Agra has firmly established itself as a significant agricultural business having a positive impact on Namibia’s economy.
Presenting the financial figures of Agra Limited and its subsidiaries in his last report as Agra CEO, Peter Kazmaier on Friday morning praised the company for posting positive financial results under challenging and ever-changing circumstances in the financial year that ended on July 31 2015.
Agra’s gross company turnover increased by 10.75 percent to NS2.1 billion in the period while the company’s net turnover increased by 10.4 percent from N$1.12 billion to N$1.24 billion in 2015. Net turnover for the group increased by 7.3 percent to N$1.34 billion, he announced.
Kazmaier said other income of the Agra group, which includes an amount of N$5.1 million for the increase in the fair value of investment properties, amounts to N$44.7 million, compared to N$26.1 million in the previous financial year. This represents an increase of N$18.6 million, or 71.2 percent.
“On the other hand, operating expenses increased by 18.4 percent from 2014 to N$253.3 million in 2015,” he noted. Finance costs for the group increased from N$3.3 million in 2014 to N$12.1 million in 2015, mainly as a result of interest charges on loans to finance abovementioned projects.
This resulted in the company posting a net profit after current normal tax of N$48.9 million, compared to last year’s N$40.5 million, an improvement of N$8.4 million, or 21 percent.
“The largest contributor to this very positive change in net profit after tax is the fact that a number of taxation allowances, mostly building allowances, were claimed. This however, also resulted in a dramatic increase in the provision for deferred taxation from N$3.9 million in 2014 to N$14.3 million in 2015. The total group taxation for the year of 30.5 percent reduced the group’s 2015 profit to N$38.2 million,” he stated.
The group’s total equity increased from N$240 million in 2014 to N$279 million this year and share capital amounted to N$102 million. The net asset value of the group amounted to N$2.74 per share, compared to N$2.35 per share in 2014, he informed shareholders.
Kazmaier, who retired as CEO in November this year, expressed his satisfaction with the overall results and noted the completion of three sizeable projects as highlights during his last term. These being the upgrade of the Auas Valley Shopping Mall, the building of the new Agra branch in Opuwo and the establishment of Agra’s new flagship, the Agra Hyper which hosts the largest, most modern branch with the widest product portfolio in the country.
“Agra has grown tremendously and is indispensable in the agricultural industry, playing a crucial role as the provider of inputs to the agricultural industry, marketing of livestock and our country’s Swakara pelts and provider of expert advice, mentoring and training,” chairperson of the board, Ryno van der Merwe observed in the annual report.