Kenya Orchards has Issued a Profit Warning for 2020

Kenya Orchards Limited, has issued a profit warning for the year 2020 owing to declined demand for their products exacerbated by the pandemic.

The food and vegetable processing company says most of its “customers have been affected negatively by COVID19 and therefore overall business is down.”

The manufacturer is expecting a drop in profit of more than Sh2 million based on “based on indicative financials” for the year ending December 2020.

The firm listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange made a net profit of Sh8.43 million the previous year.

“The board wishes to announce that based on the projections of the remainder of the year, the net profit for the 2020 financial year is expected to be lower by more than 25 per cent of the net profit reported for the same period in 2019,” the firm’s chairman T.K Patel said in a notice.

Mr Patel said the expected drop in revenues is from the dampened demand on spillover effects of the pandemic that saw companies lay off staff and cut their salaries.

“The company has continued on a growing path, however, we have experienced a negative effect due to Covid-19 which have impacted overall profitability. Most of our customers have been affected negatively by Covid-19 and therefore overall business is down,” he added.