RES SHAREHOLDERS POCKET MILLIONS

MBABANE – They are raking in millions in the truest sense!

The beneficiaries are the shareholders of the Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corporation. Tibiyo Taka Ngwane is the biggest of them with a 53.1 per cent shareholding, followed by RCL Foods with 29.1 per cent.The Governments of Nigeria and Eswatini hold 10 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively while the remaining 1.3 per cent is shared by individual investors.Calculations done by this publication and verified by financial experts based on the condensed financial results for the year ended March 31, which were publicised about a fortnight ago, show that Tibiyo Taka Ngwane received a whopping E130 million dividend while RCL Foods got a staggering E71.4million. Meanwhile the Government of Nigeria got E24.5 million while the Eswatini Government pocketed E15.9 million. The rest went to the individual shareholders who shared about E3.1 million.

These dividends were paid out at the end of June 2021. The total shares declared were 96 446 000 whereas the dividend per share was E2.545. For this financial year, the RES Corporation realised a sharp increase of 41 per cent in profit on top of a strong balance sheet. The company and its subsidiaries’ profit before tax shot up from about E407.3 million to E691.1 million. The profit attributable to the company owners also shot up from about E298 163 000 to over E507.6 million, signalling another significant increase of, at least, 69 per cent.

The financial results also showed a strong balance sheet with E4 billion total assets. This is due to the ongoing capital expenditure, which includes land development of 162.5 hectares under the group expansion programme and higher biological assets as well as the impact of the purchase of Inyoni Yami Swaziland Irrigation Scheme (IYSIS). The group acquired the remaining 50 per cent in the IYSIS partnership on December 1 last year at a purchase price of E58 million. “The Group assumed new debt of E35 million to finance 60 per cent of the acquisition cost,” reads the report in part. Trade and other receivables dropped from about E266.7 million to nearly E253.5 million. Trade receivables can be defined as the amount owed to a business by its customers following the sale of goods or services on credit.

report

Sugar production, according to the report, was slightly higher at 461 567 tonnes due to improved operating efficiencies in the sugar mills. It was at 460 659 tonnes in the previous year. “The current year ’s crop was negatively affected by severe yellow sugar cane aphid and thrips outbreaks combined with drought conditions that persisted until January this year, necessitating irrigation restrictions aimed at conserving water,” highlighted the RES Corporation report.

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