Press Corporation (PCL) plc is expecting the 2024 profit to range to be between K115 billion and K122 billion as the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed conglomerate targets significant diversification towards energy.
The country’s biggest company based on a number of subsidiaries projected this profit in its trading statement published on MSE this week, which is an increase of about 63 percent from 2023.
Reads the statement signed by company secretary Maureen Mbeye: “Press Corporation plc hereby advises its members and the investing public that the consolidated profit-after-tax for the year ending December 31 2024 is expected to be between K115.70 billion and K122.48 billion compared to K75.05 billion reported in the previous corresponding period, representing an increase ranging between 54 percent and 63 percent.”
This means the group would be the second-most profitable from Nico Holdings plc, another listed conglomerate which is forecasting a profit of between K122 billion and K131 billion from K59 billion in 2023 which is 122 percent increase.
PCL’s profit increase will mainly be driven by its subsidiary, National Bank of Malawi plc, anticipation of K98 billion profit from K78 billion in 2023 while its telecommunications subsidiary, TNM, is expected to recover from a loss of K4.7 billion in 2023 to a profit of K9 billion.
Meanwhile, the group, which recently signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), has expressed interest to invest in energy, targeting electricity and fertiliser production.
According to PCL chief executive officer Ronald Mangani, this is in line with the MSE-listed firm’s 2024-2028 strategic plan.
He said plans to set up a $55.1 million (about K96.4 billion) 50 megawatt (MW) solar power plant at Nkhoma in Lilongwe, which will be run by its new entity Press Energy, are at an advanced stage.
“We have a timeline and by that time line within a period of two years from now, we should be able to implement the project to a point where we begin to put power into the national grid.
“We will be contributing to energy generation in the country. We will be contributing to employment creation and, we will also be contributing to saving of foreign exchange,” Mangani said after signing the PPA in December 2024.
Some of the subsidiaries of PCL include National Bank, TNM, MTL, Press properties, Press Cane, Ethanol Company limited, The Foods Limited (Maldeco) and MacSteel Limited while it also has interest in Puma Energy and Limbe Leaf, among others.
