Sifax Group witnesses slump in 2016 H1 performance

Managing Director of Sifax Group, John Jenkins, met with journalists recently in Lagos and revealed that the conglomerate witnessed a slump in its business; projections in the first half of 2016.

According to Jenkins, the sharp drop in the price of crude oil in the international market which affected the nation’s economy vis-a-vis the issue of foreign exchange eroded Sifax Groups performance in the first half of 2016

“Port & Cargo Handling Services Limited (P&CHS) is the flagship subsidiary in our group due to its strategic importance in terms of its size and business volumes.

“All the measuring indices for the company in the first half of the year recorded a negative return when benchmarked against the same period in 2015, which in itself didn’t return any encouraging statistics.

“From vessel operations, throughput figures to gate activities, all recorded a sharp decline in volumes and activities. While the percentage of volume decline varies from one measuring indices to another, but on the average, Ports & Cargo recorded approximately a 10 per cent drop in container business operations.

“Being a multi-purpose terminal, Ports & Cargo Handling Services limited, aside containers operations, also handles general/project cargoes, which ended up the most badly-affected arm of the business during the period under review.

“There was approximately a 50 per cent drop in volumes for general cargo goods between January and June, 2016 when compared with the first half of 2015.

“Sifax Offdock Nigeria Limited is the inland container depot subsidiary Group. With three terminals at Okota, one at Trinity and one at ljora, the company use these off docks to ease the congestion at the Ports & Cargo terminal.

“Sifax Offdock recorded an improved business performance for the period under review as shown in the mid-year statistics. The throughput volume for January to June, 2016, compared with that of 201S shows approximately a 54.11 per cent increase for the containers received into the facilities whilst deliveries improved also by 50.23 per cent.

“Though the business performance in this subsidiary has been encouraging, its overall impact in the Group has been minimal due to its small size and limited financial contributions to the whole Group.

“With over 50 new trucks, Sifax Haulage & Logistics Limited is one of the biggest players in the industry. With a fleet of well-maintained and NPA certified trucks, the company continues to forge ahead despite the challenging economy.

“Compared to 201S mid-year performance, the company recorded approximately a 20 per cent decline in volume between January and June 2016, despite signing new business deals with some new clients like Fatoum Logistics, Lilypond Containers and APMT, Kano.

“Taking into considerations the subsidiaries business performances mid-year, it is safe to conclude that Sifax Group has recorded between 20 per cent and 25 per cent volume decline in the first half of the year 2016. This decline also had a telling effect on the revenue.