Zimplow hails revised US$ retention thresholds
By Alois Vinga
LISTED agricultural equipment manufacturer, Zimplow Holdings Limited has commended monetary authorities’ recent policy directive allowing miners to retain more foreign currency as a positive productivity spurring step.
In a Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) presented by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) early this year, the mining sector was allowed to retain 75% of their foreign currency with the remainder 25% being paid in local currency at the prevailing official exchange rate.
Prior to this, miners were only allowed to retain 60% foreign currency and 40% local currency, a situation which left the sector crying foul.
Presenting a trading update for the year’s first quarter, Zimplow’s group company secretary, Sharon Manangadzira said the policy measure has positively impacted the sector as a whole.
“The continued firm mineral pricing and measures by the government to encourage retention of foreign currency by the mining sector was a boost to increased economic activity driven by this sector.
“In addition, the pace of infrastructure development projects has provided the Group an incentive to adequately position itself with major earth moving fleet owners through Tractive Power Solutions,” she said.
During the period ,the group recorded growth across the units with Mealie Brand sales volumes of local implements recording improved volumes by 72% in comparison to the prior year same period.
At Farmec, the efforts to create resilience in the business model are yielding positive results with after sales service hours increasing by 16% when compared to the same period in the year 2022 on the back of implemented sales growth by 20%.
The new business unit, Valmec is starting to receive new stock and establishing its own identity in the market amid plans by management expects better resource allocation and efficiency in market penetration as the year progresses.
“The group expects the trading environment to continue to be challenging given the constraints on liquidity. Consequently, the group will follow through on its strategy and operational tactics to achieve business stability and value preservation as we navigate the rest of the year,” added Manangadzire.
