NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's East African Cables on Saturday issued a profit warning for the financial year ending December due to unsatisfactory performance by its Tanzanian unit.
The company recorded a 51 percent drop in pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2010 to 84.67 million Kenya shillings, due to high metal prices that put pressure on its margins.
East African Cables said its Kenyan unit was strong and profitable, but its Tanzanian unit was not faring well.
"A decline in profitability has occurred within our subsidiary in Tanzania ... arising from ... significant provisioning of bad and doubtful debts and inventory ... (and) continued volatility in sales in the Tanzanian utility sector," it said in a statement published in the local Nation newspaper.
"The impact of the above factors, which see the subsidiary report a significant loss, will be reflected in the group's unaudited results of the first half of this financial year..."
East African Cables' shares closed Friday trade on the Nairobi Stock Exchange at 21.75 shillings, from 20.25 shillings a day earlier.
http://af.reuters.com/ar...ws/idAFJOE66G01920100717