UAP sees dip in profits for 2016 period

By Regina Manyara-Gitau.

UAP Holdings 2016 full year net profit dipped 8 percent to 825 million shillings on account of an income tax expense as opposed to a tax credit that the firm enjoyed the previous year.

Devaluation of the South Sudanese pound and reduction in the price of shares at the bourse cost UAP Holdings a staggering 756 million shillings.

The company has proposed a dividend payout of one shilling and 70 cents per share.

Old Mutual acquired a 60.7 percent stake in UAP for 25.6 billion shillings in July 2015, and the two holding companies have continued to operate similar subsidiaries in life insurance and asset management. The acquisition process is currently in its final stages.

During the year 2016, UAP Holdings posted 825 million shillings in net profit, representing an 8 percent decline attributed to lack of a tax credit like the one enjoyed the previous year.

Among the key highlights of the financials was the 756 million shillings that UAP Holdings booked as a result of devaluation of the South Sudanese pound and reduction in the price of shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Going forward, the firm hopes that completion of two properties in South Sudan and Kenya would grow income as well as go public.

Despite the dip in net profit, earnings per share rose from three shillings and five cents in 2015 to four shillings and 43 cents. This has seen the firm propose to pay one shilling and 70 cents per share in dividends in June this year subject to approval by shareholders.