Nampak invests $2,3m for growth

Source: Nampak invests $2,3m for growth – herald

Nelson Gahadza

Nampak Zimbabwe invested US$2,3 million in the half-year period to March 31, 2025, primarily for expansion projects and improved generator capacity at its subsidiary, Megapak.

Group managing director, Mr John Van Gend, stated in the financial report that the group continues to evaluate other projects to maintain or improve capacity.

He noted, “The outlook for the group remains promising, with growth prospects in the beverage markets, and the group will also continue to sustain high efficiencies, good product quality and rigorous customer support.”

Mr Van Gend also highlighted encouraging short-term growth prospects in the corrugated market due to an increased tobacco crop size in 2025. Other strategic group initiatives include enhancing capacity and improving operating efficiencies.

Nampak Zimbabwe continues to trade under a cautionary notice regarding the concluded sale and purchase agreement between Nampak Southern Africa Holdings Limited and TSL Limited.

This agreement remains subject to various suspensive conditions. The US$25 million offer from TSL Limited for a 51,43 percent stake in Nampak Zimbabwe, once finalised, will be a significant deal for the market.

For the period under review, Hunyani Paper and Packaging sales volumes were 30 percent below the prior period.

Mr Van Gend attributed this decrease to reduced tobacco carry-over volumes, resulting from a smaller 2024 crop compared to the bumper crop in the 2023 season.

Commercial volumes were 25 percent below the prior period, as a growing number of customers are now self-manufacturing.

“Management is focusing on cost optimisation initiatives to become more competitive and increase regional footprint to replace these lost volumes,” he explained.

Volumes in the cartons, labels and sacks division have been recovering as the business has been repositioning to regain market share.

In the plastics and metals segment, sales volumes were 6 percent below the prior period, affected by increased competitive pressures and weak demand due to a general slowdown in economic activity in certain consumer segments.

Mr Van Gend noted that increased plant breakdowns in Ruwa, caused by power cuts, also impacted the ability to meet customer demand.

He added, “We have installed additional generator capacity to minimise the impact of the stop-starts and improve efficiencies.” The informalisation of the retail sector and disruptions to the route-to-market also contributed to the decline in demand from some customer segments, he said.

At CarnaudMetalbox, sales volumes for the half year were 5 percent below the prior period.

In plastics, High-Density Polyethylen (HDPE) was 10 percent ahead of the prior period due to increased demand. However, “Metals volumes were significantly below prior period due to raw material availability and product portfolio rationalisation while Closures were 20 percent below prior period due to weak demand,” said Mr Van Gend.