The group contributes to the Government treasury through various tax heads such as excise duty, corporate tax, value added tax, customs duties, pay as you earn and withholding tax.
"The group's contribution to the
"The key contributors of the increase in tax were excise duty and corporate tax driven by the increases in selling price of our products and the profit generated before taxation," Lovemore Manatsa, the group's chairman said in the company's annual report.
Listed on the
In his 2022 National Budget, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube increased excise duty on cigarettes from 20 percent and
Meanwhile, Mr Manatsa said the group was confident that it was in a good position to navigate through the difficult economic environment, but in the short term, anticipates a potential increase in the cost of production.
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"We strongly believe that the group will continue to perform to shareholders' expectations. As the conflict in
The group noted that as part of its commitment, it strives to operate the business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and to achieve this, the group continues to strengthen its systems to address both environmental and social aspects associated with its operations.
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"To this end, the
"In 2021, we raised the bar with our sustainability agenda and we intend to reduce our carbon footprint as a group by increasing our renewable energy use and achieving 100 percent renewable energy use in our operational sites by 2030," Mr Manatsa said.
To this end, he added, the group is gradually switching to solar power for all its trade depots sites and to date have built solar sites for two depots.
"We also aim to increase the amount of water recycled to 30 percent by 2025," he said.
In terms of volume performance for the year under review, Mr Manatsa said volume growth of 25 percent from cigarette sales was mainly attributable to increased consumer demand, increased export of cut rag tobacco, consistent product supply and the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
"The volume growth was on the back of increased demand, excellence in execution by our staff and improved access to market. Export volumes of leaf and cut rag tobacco were up by 74 percent in the period under review compared to prior year due to increased demand from our export markets," he said.
The group recorded a 42 percent increase in revenue amounting to
"The two income generating streams resulted in a gross profit increase of
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