Mumias Sugar has said it expected to perform better in the second half after posting a wider pretax loss for the six months ended December 31, 2015.
The company added on Tuesday that
falling prices due to illegal imports could pose a challenge.
The heavily-indebted firm has been struggling with cash flow problems in recent years, forcing the government to step in with bailout funds and has hired a new chief executive, Errol Johnston, to drive its turnaround.
Mumias said losses widened to Sh2.26 billion
($22.23 million)
from a loss of Sh2.08 billion in the year ago period, due to increased finance costs.
Finance costs nearly doubled to Sh732.6 million from Sh378.7 million in the six-month period ended December 31, 2014, it said in a statement.
"During the six-month period, high interest rates coupled with a depreciated Kenya shilling adversely affected the company in terms of high cost of finance and foreign exchange losses," it said.
"This coupled with high operating and administrative costs saw the company post a pretax loss ... which is 9 per cent higher than the ... loss incurred during a similar period last year."
The shilling hit lows last seen in October 2011 in late 2015, while interest rates peaked above 22 per cent.
Mumias said net revenue for the period rose 11 per cent from a year ago to Sh2.98 billion shillings, while administrative expenses shot up to Sh1 billion from Sh820.9 million.
The company - which also faced hurdles from raw material shortages and low sugar prices - said it was seeking an additional Sh2 billion cash injection from the government.
Kenya has used high tariffs to protect its sugar farmers but the policy has encouraged smuggling of cheaper sugar imports. It said loss per share widened to Sh1.04, from Sh0.95 during the first half ending December 2014.