Crown Paints profit soars to Ksh.599.5 million

Manufacturer Crown Paints has posted a resounding 85.6 per cent growth in earnings across 2020 with profits hitting Ksh.599.5 million from Ksh.323 million in 2019.

The near two-fold growth in profitability has been anchored on higher sales which topped Ksh.9.2 billion from Ksh.8.6 billion previously.

The company has nevertheless cited disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the firm delay the receipt of its annual financial performance.

“Our business closed in Rwanda and Uganda, however, Kenya remained open despite very low business,” Crown Paints said.

“The initial period of the lock down has adverse effects on the business as we observed a shortage of materials inflows. The effect of this was a slight shift upwards in raw material prices and a temporary shortage of certain products.”

Crown Paints nevertheless predict a much improved operating environment this year as regional economies register a significant growth recovery from the COVID-19 base effects last year.

“Our company shall continue to depend on the strengths of our brand and our network of stakeholders to our advantage in order to deliver to the shareholders a greater return,” the company added.

Crown Paints improved its generation of cash during the year to just over Ksh.1 billion from a lower Ksh.664.2 million.

At the same time, the paint’s manufacturer has seen its earnings per share improve to Ksh.8.42 to nearly double from Ksh.4.54 in 2019.

However, the company has maintained a cash preservation stance with its board skipping the declaration of dividends to shareholders.

Crown is currently in the process of rolling out a rights issue from which it plans to raise Ksh.712 million to bolster its capitalization.