PPC to dispose Colleen Bawn, Bulawayo houses

LOCAL cement producer, PPC Zimbabwe has said the disposal of houses at its Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo factories will be finalised during the 2020 financial year because government was still processing sectional title deeds.

In September 2015, the PPC Zimbabwe board approved the disposal of houses at Colleen Bawn and Bulawayo factories. It anticipated to finalise the deal in 12 months, but more than three years down the line, government is still processing the sectional title deeds.

"The disposal has been delayed due to the government processing of the sectional title deeds and is now anticipated to be completed during the 2020 financial year," PPC said in its consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2019.

"The houses have already been allocated to the employees through a systematic process and the agreements of sale have been drafted and are with the lawyers. It is management's view that the outstanding processes will be completed by September 2019."

In the current year, PPC said a valuation of the houses was performed by an independent valuator and a fair value gain of R48 million was recognised.

"The fair value was estimated based on the market prices of similar properties. The movement from prior year was also impacted by the exchange rate movements," the cement maker said. In
the period under review, the regional cement maker said revenue declined by 20% to R1 447 million from the R1 813 million achieved in the same period last year.

It said the successful implementation of route-to-market strategy has enabled PPC to offset some of these headwinds, with volumes declining by 5%.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation contracted by 20% to R461 million.

Margins were, however, maintained at 32%.