Crown Paints’ Profits For 2020 Up By 63 Percent

The operating profit before tax for paint giant Crown Paints for the year ended 31 December 2020 rose by 63 percent (the equivalent of 335 million shillings) to 863 million shillings.

These profits were higher compared to the year ended 31 December 2019 where a 33 percent (the equivalent of 132 million) growth was attained against the year ended 31 December 2018.

“Slicing down to subsidiaries, I am happy to report that Crown Paints Tanzania Ltd. has been turned around from loss after tax of 240 million shillings in the year 2019 to break even in the year 2020,” said the Group’s CEO Dr. Rakesh Rao.

According to Dr. Rao, a similar turnaround was witnessed in Regal Paints Uganda Ltd, which had a loss after tax, of 95 million shillings in the year 2019 to break even in the year 2020.

“This turnover was as a result of cost control and better negotiations with the suppliers and customers. Crown Paints Rwanda on the other hand remained profitable despite low sales due to multiple lockdowns,” added Dr. Rao.

Profit After Tax stood at 12.2 million shillings for the year 2020 against the 32.4 million shillings of the year 2019. The Group’s turnover for the year ended 31 December 2020 grew by 7 percent (the equivalent of 588 million shillings) to 9 billion shillings in comparison with year 2019 which had a 3 percent (the equivalent of 288 million shillings) increase against the year 2018.

The Kenya Shilling subsequently depreciated, increasing the cost of imported raw materials which inevitably, pushed the production costs of Crown Paints upwards. The ease of doing business was further curtailed when the supply chains world overground to a halt.

“To forestall an imminent crisis, we took drastic measures to review our operational procedures and implemented production efficiency protocols. In addition, we changed our marketing strategy to focus on positioning our products to target people working from home,” added Dr. Rao. Statistics reveal that the overall inflation in Kenya, in 2020 averaged 5.3 percent compared to 5.2 percent in the previous year.