NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Mumias Sugar posted a slight pick-up in pretax profit to 1.30 billion shillings for its first half through December, it said on Friday. Mumias is the largest sugar grower and miller in the east African nation of 39 million people. The country has an annual sugar deficit of around 200,000 tonnes, which is usually filled by imports from other producers in the region. Although the firm's revenue fell 5 percent a year before to just under 7 billion shillings, the company cut its marketing and distribution costs in the period by half to 224 million shillings. Earnings per share edged up to 0.57 shillings from 0.54, Mumias said in a statement. It did not recommend the payment of a dividend. Mumias plans to start a vast new plantation at the coast to diversify production from its base in the west of Kenya where all of the country's sugar is grown. It also plans to acquire other factories when the government puts up for sale five factories it controls, part of a privatisation process.
Kenya's Mumias Sugar's profit edges up 4.5 pct in H1
February 3, 2012, 5:50 pm
