JOHANNESBURG - Financial services provider, Kingdom Holdings Limited, has reported that the last year had been the most painful and said it was sceptical of a complete recovery of Zimbabwes economy.However, the companys financial performance had been enhanced since the beginning of the year by an improved economic environment. The last twelve months or so have been painful for our customers, shareholders and employees. The change in functional currency effectively wiped out our trading history. We have had to rebuild this business from ground up. This we continue to do to the best of our ability and I am pleased that we have already laid a good foundation as the springboard for consolidation and future growth.
The economic outlook remains largely unpredictable and all hope rests on continued political stability to nurture the modest gains registered during the past several months. Liquidity is proving to be the biggest challenge for the economy, said Kingdom in a statement accompanying its financial results for the first six months of the year.
The expected international aid which was forecast at the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) has not come through. Foreign direct investment remains insignificant with most investors still smarting from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis. It has been an uphill battle for government to raise US$8.5 billion which is required to kick starts the economy. For now, scepticism abounds in international funding and diplomacy circles around progress made. To date the inclusive government has raised in excess of a billion dollars from multilateral support.
On the positive side, government had taken bold and deliberate steps to re-engage the outside world. Zimbabwe has enjoyed relative political stability so far and the expectation was that this would continue.
Kingdom achieved a profit after tax of US$ 452,176 for the first six months of the year against a background of a stabilizing economic environment. The performance was largely underpinned by the recovery of the equities market and increased contribution from our associate company in Malawi. All our businesses struggled during the period. As a country we seem to have bottomed out and our hope is that we maintain the recovery trend during the second half, said the statement.
Post published in: Economy