BOC Gases Nets Sh226 Million Profit

BOC Gases, a company listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange and with operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, recorded a profit of Sh226 million for the year ending September 2006.

The figure represents a nine per cent increase from last year's profit of Sh207 million for the same period.

The company will pay Sh83 million in shareholder dividends at 85 cents per share. The rise in profits, and the company's turnover from Sh987 million last year to Sh1.1 billion, has been attributed to the growth in the economy, among other factors.

"Power is a major cost in our production and any increase will have a serious impact on our manufacturing costs," said managing director John Kariuki.

Despite obstacles, a rise in demand for the company's products also helped buoy the figures.

The Tanzanian subsidiary is limited to the mining industry in Mwanza, the sugarmills in Arusha and in Dar es Salaam's industrial entities.

The firm's operations in Uganda largely serve the industrial and medical sectors as is the case in Kenya.

BOC Gases has an optimistic outlook for next year, despite having hit a snag in the much anticipated takeover of Carbacid. A hearing before the Capital Markets Authority on November 20 is expected to chart the way forward for the company in what it maintains is a matter to do with interpretation of market regulations.

"We went into Carbacid because we felt that BOC had a chance to get in the business," he said. It is estimated that the acquisition of Carbacid will net the company an additional 30 per cent in profits.