Kampala: June 29, 2022: – Uganda Clays Limited (UCL), the leading manufacturer of quality baked clay building products has today announced that the company posted impressive results for the year 2021 with a net profit of UGX 5.92 billion and as such a dividend payment of UGX 1.5 per share has been approved by the shareholders.
This is an increase of 11% from the payout of UGX 1.35 per share declared in 2020.
The dividend for the financial year 2021 will be paid latest by 20th July 2022 to the shareholders on the register at the close of business on 29th June 2022.
This was announced by the UCL Board Chairman, Eng. Martin Kasekende, during the Company’s Annual General Meeting held at the Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
Eng. Kasekende said that the impressive performance was a result of the company’s commitment to implementing a robust strategy in the current economic environment.
Mr. Reuben B. Tumwebaze, UCL Managing Director, re-echoed the entity’s strong performance.
“Despite the year being marked by unpredictable market conditions, the company has delivered better results than 2020. We have improved and continue to improve our safety record, increased our distribution channels within the country and made excellent progress with our major projects.”
Performance highlights
Total Revenue increased by 24% to UGX 36.7 billion for the period compared to UGX 29.7 billion in the year 2020, notably due to improved efficiencies in production and an increase in sales volume.
Gross profit increased by 27% to UGX 17.2 billion from UGX 13.5 billion in 2020.
Operating costs increased by 28% to UGX 12.1 billion from UGX 9.4 billion driven by increased funding of company operating expenditure initiatives for the period.
As a result, profit after tax for the period increased by 21% to UGX 5.9 billion from UGX 4.9 billion in 2020.
Total Assets increased by 8% to UGX 74.5 billion, mainly attributable to purchase of clay deposits and deliberate investment in our two plants at Kajjansi and Kamonkoli. Total dividend payout for the year is UGX 1.35 billion.
Inside the AGM
Despite the difficult times in the year 2021 (the pandemic and lockdown), Kasekende said Uganda Clays Limited thrived and continued to see good performance, thanks to strategic initiatives like renovating and improving Kamonkoli kiln and increasing production.
Tumwebaze, on the other hand, said they have also greatly improved in terms of product quality and quantity.
“By 2023, our customer satisfaction will be at 90%, staff satisfaction at 80%, revenue at Shs72bn and wastage at 5%. Our strategic initiative this year is to sustain our transformation, and we are achieving this through a lot of programs like Visual felt leadership, which engages all members of the staff,” he said.
Apart from the kamonkoli line which has doubled production, he said they were able to install a dryer, and this was an in-house innovation that helped the firm cut costs.
“Our sales revenue has increased from Shs28bn to Shs36bn. We are also working on staying relevant in our community. We have helped 4 women recover their businesses that were affected due to the lockdown, we partnered with a local school to empower their female students. We are also working with clay manufacturers in our community.”
He added: “We want to register more clay manufacturers, so far we have 10. We do not want to fight with competitors, we want to work with them to ensure we deliver quality clay products in Uganda and the world. We also want to ensure the safety of all workers at all factories.”
The company is also planning on starting a young builders’ school to train the youth so they can be professionals in the building and construction industry.
Jones Muhumuza, the Chief Finance Officer Uganda Clays, said in 2021, they had positive financial metrics and revenue increased by 24% better than in 2020 while annual earnings before tax increased by 16%.
“Our net profits increased by 21% (Shs5.9bn) and our total assets by 8% (Shs74.5bn). We acquired 120 acres of land that will be able to sustain us for a long time. We bought machinery and trucks etc.”
“We achieved a 21% water efficiency and 66% of our water is recycled. We usually give back to the community, we had more than 100 people tested for HIV. We managed to vaccinate all our employees against covid 19. We take pride in supporting our football team, Kajjansi FC. We are also looking at expansion, by end of the year, we shall be in Mwanza, Tanzania,” Muhumuza said.
Mr Mathias Nalyanya, secretary to the Uganda Clays Board, said proposed that they start paying dividends through mobile money.
“This will require shareholders to update their contacts and bank accounts. We are appealing to our shareholders to update all their details in the shareholder registers.”
