Notore Chemical Industries Plc, has posted N13.12 billion revenue and N2.7 billion operating income for the half year ended March 31, 2020. Th figures were contained in the company’s unaudited results for the Half Year ended March 31, 2020, which reported agross revenue of N13.12bn compared to N12.86bn for first half of 2019, representing a 3 percent growth.
In the statement signed by its Group Managing Director, Mr. Onajite Okoloko, the company reported: “The modest growth in revenue is attributable to some improvements in Plant reliability derived from the on-going TAM programme, which has begun to impact positively on Plant operations and resulting in some marginal increases in production volume during the period.
“Operating expenses increased by 29 percent to N10.43 billion during the period from ₦8.05 billion for the corresponding period of 2019:H1 due mainly to a combination of increases in production activities, plant repair and maintenance expenses and the impact of naira devaluation. Operating income for the period was N2.67 billion, a decrease of 42 percent as compared to N4.63 billion in 2019H1.”
The company said whilst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the attendant measures/restrictions put in place by various governments aimed at halting the further spread of the virus has had a negative impact on businesses globally, the impact of the pandemic on the fertilizer market and Notore in particular, remains minimal, as it operates in the “essential goods” industry.
According to the company: “the Nigerian fertilizer demand is quite robust and is expected to continue to grow considering the Federal Government’s strong and decisive policy focus on agriculture as one of the keys to unlock the diversification of the Nigerian economy. The domestic fertilizer market is yet to reach its full potential as the consumption of fertilizer per hectare of arable land in Nigeria is still far below the 200kg per hectare recommended by Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).”
