Zambeef cuts net debt and reaffirms full year expectations

The fully-integrated agribusiness with operations in Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana said net debt at the end of September was $74.7m (£48.51m), down from $118m in the same period last year.

Zambeef said that during the year it has been actively working at converting its US dollar-denominated debt to Zambian kwacha.

It said that while USD debt carries a much lower interest cost than ZMW debt, it also carries significant risks from exchange movements.

The company pointed out that in the last year, the ZMW nearly halved in value against the US dollar.

It said it continues to look at ways of reducing exposure to the greenback even further in order to mitigate future earnings volatility arising from exchange rate fluctuations, whilst also seeking to preserve the most efficient capital structure.

Zambeef reported group US dollar revenue of $39.7m, which represents 15.5% of total group revenue, and said it expects this to continue to grow in the coming year as it increases the range of products it exports into the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa regions.

“As previously notified, we expect that FY14/15 operating profits and cash generated from operations will be ahead of market expectations while adjusted profit before tax will be in line with market expectations, despite absorbing significant realised losses from repaying US dollar debt and converting US dollar debt to ZMW.”

At 1402 GMT, Zambeef shares were down 0.4% at 5.85p.