Historic debt haunts Meatco
Written by on May 3, 2024
The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) says historic debt keeps eating away at its revenue, after recording a loss of N$118 million in the 2022/23 financial year.
Board of directors interim chairperson Adolf Muremi says despite a slight improvement in revenue, historic debt has negatively impacted the company.
“Despite the slight performance in terms of throughput and revenue, the business continues to be haunted by its historic debts that negatively affect its debt-to-equity ratio and discourages the commercial banks from making facilities available that cover the company’s working capital requirements,” says Muremi.
Meatco sold 11,042 tonnes of beef and generated revenue of N$865 million, an increase from N$752 million during 2021/22.
It also reported a loss of N$118 million, showing improvement from the previous year’s loss of N$206 million.
“Meatco’s business model is profitable at its optimal capacity, however, the Windhoek Abattoir, which has a capacity of at 120 000 cattle per annum has been underutilised,” says Muremi.
In addition, Meatco continues to face challenges, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and drought.
“This cumulative situation was further compounded by the challenges experienced in the logistics supply chain due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” says Muremi.
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