Industrial gas producer, BOC Kenya has recorded a 14.8 per cent profit drop in its 2019 financial results due to decreased net income.
The firm’s profit decreased from Sh65.5 million in 2018 to Sh55.9million in 2019.
Net income dropped by 14.8 per cent from Sh70.2 million to Sh43.5 million largely lowering the firm's profitability.
The decrease in net income was impacted by poor public sector debt management and supply chain constraints around a key industrial raw material and availability of special gases and cylinders.
Many public sector customers were supplied intermittently or not at all during the year as the company balanced between extended credit terms and significant delays in debt payment in line with the firm’s credit policy.
In addition, sales of industrial cylinder gases to mostly small and medium enterprises remained depressed during the year.
The gas producer had issued a profit warning in November last year saying it expected its earnings for the year ending December 2019, to drop by at least 25 per cent due to depressed sales and higher provisioning for debts.
The Board of Directors did not recommend the payment of a final dividend in 2019.
“The total dividend for 2019 will therefore be the Sh2.35 per share that was paid as an interim dividend in October 2019,” BOC said in it’s financial statement.
