Tyre maker Sameers 1st half profit slides 42 pct

Kenyan tyre maker Sameer reported a 42 percent slide in pretax profit for the first half of 2015 to 66.2 million shillings ($650,000), but said it could still deliver a full-year profit after last year’s annual loss.

The firm, which reported a pretax profit of 114.2 million shillings in the first half of 2014, said a depreciation in the shilling had forced the company to hike prices to protect margins, a move that depressed sales.

Sameer also said it continued to face competition from cheaper, imported tyres from Asia, a factor it had blamed for losses in 2014. Political unrest in Burundi, a regional market, also affected sales.

But Sameer said it could still deliver a full-year profit, and added that it would reduce costs by reviewing its distribution channels and other aspects of expenditure, citing a 9 percent decline in operating costs in the first six months.

“The board expects the positive results recorded in the first half to continue into the second half of the year, provided that the relatively stable macroeconomic environment remains,” Sameer said in a statement. (REUTERS)