Insimbi sees profit drop as it braces for deteriorating economy

Small-cap metal alloys supplier Insimbi Industrial Holdings has seen profits slump by more than a third in its year to end-February, when Covid-19 and geopolitical tension weighed on global markets and commodity prices.

Profit fell 36% to R29.36m, but Insimbi said it was cautiously optimistic about its prospects in the current financial year.

Insimbi supplies alloys to the steel sector, as well as ceramic refractory linings to the cement, paper and pulp, steel and platinum industries.

The group had already been experiencing pressure as a result of US-China trade tensions and Brexit uncertainty before the Covid-19 outbreak in China in December.

“There is no doubt that the hard lockdown which resulted in almost seven weeks of lost revenue in the first half of the 2021 financial year will have a significant impact on our group’s budgeted performance and it remains to be seen how we perform in the current financial year compared to the prior 2020 year now reported on,” the group said.

The group added it had managed to cut costs and was performing better than expected. The group’s share price has fallen 45.19% so far in 2020, giving it a market capitalisation of R251m on Friday morning.