(Alliance News) - Zambeef Products PLC on Thursday said it expects annual adjusted pretax profit to be 20% to 30% ahead of forecasts.
Shares in the beef producer were 16% higher at 7.01 pence midday Thursday in London.
The Zambia-focused cold chain foods and retail business said that for year ending September 30, revenue is expected to be in line with current market expectations. Revenue in financial 2020 was ZMW3.88 billion, the equivalent of around GBP124.6 million, while a pretax loss of ZMW22.7 million, or around GBP729,000, was posted.
"Despite the difficult operating environment resulting from the 2020 economic and Covid-19 related uncertainties, the encouraging first half period performance has been driven by a focus on revenue optimisation," Zambeef stated.
"The macroeconomic relative stability witnessed in the first half year period is expected to continue during the second half."
Zambeef's net debt at March 31 was around USD45 million, 15% lower than the USD55 million seen at the same stage in the previous year.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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Zambeef Prod. (ZAM)