By Our Reporter
Uganda Clays Limited (UCL) has announced a net profit of UGX 4.9 billion and an 11% growth in total assets for the year ended 31 December 2020.
The net profit is a turnaround from a loss of UGX 88 Million in 2019 while total assets grew from a value of UGX 62.2 Billion in 2019 to UGX 68.8 Billion in 2020.
This is despite a 3% drop in sales revenue for the year which was UGX 29.7 billion compared to UGX 30.7 billion for 2019. The drop in sales revenue was mainly attributed to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business environment.
The financial results were announced by the UCL Chairman, Board of Directors, Martin Kasekende, during the company’s Annual General Meeting that was held virtually on Wednesday afternoon.
“Despite the strong headwinds that it unleashed, the year 2020 was also remarkable in another way because of the unprecedented results that the Company registered,” Martin Kasekende said. “The Company made a profit after tax of UGX 4.87 billion. This was an incredible jump from a loss position of UGX 88 million in 2019.”
“The positive results were achieved through cost management initiatives put in place during the year resulting in a substantial drop in production and overhead costs.” He added.
The significant improvement in the performance of the entity resulted in a dividend pay-out of UGX 1.2 Billion (UGX 1.35 per share), which represents 25% of the net profit for the year.
“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.” Kasekende concluded.
Reuben TUMWEBAZE, UCL Managing Director, re-echoed the entity’s resilience in the tough operating environment, “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 us 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.”
Meanwhile, during the meeting, the the Board of Directors also appointed new members to top management. These include: Mr Reuben B. Tumwebaze who was appointed Managing Director; Mr Richard Lule was appointed the Head of Human Resources and Support Services; Mr Moses Sanye was appointed the General Manager Kamonkoli; Mr Mark Rwomushana is the new Head of Sales and Marketing; and finally Mr Joseph Sendegeya was appointed the Head of Production.