Sasini net profit down to Sh45.4m on lower tea prices

Agricultural firm Sasini saw its net profit halve in the year ended September on lower tea prices amid a global glut of the commodity. Its net profit in the period stood at Sh45.4 million compared to Sh91.6 million the year before.

Despite the reduced earnings, the company proposed a dividend of Sh0.25 per share maintaining last year’s pay-out.

“The decrease in the profit is largely as a result of significant lower prices of tea and lower production volumes of coffee in the year under review,” the firm said in a statement.

READ: Low tea prices, dry weather hit shares of agriculture companies

Sasini noted that tea prices dropped 24.1 per cent to Sh203.4 per kg in the period as producers such as Vietnam ramped up their output.

The company also suffered from reduced production of coffee as poor rainfall affected its plantations in Rift Valley.

READ: Embu farmers snub lobby’s call to boycott picking tea

ALSO READ: Tea exporters want value levy scrapped