New products earn Eveready Sh120 million

Eveready East Africa said its diversification strategy has started paying off with new products contributing Sh120 million in revenues last year. The amount represents 10 per cent of the Sh1.2 billion turnover realised in 2015.

The company has launched four products over the past four years including Turbo automotive batteries, Eveready incandescent and energy saving bulbs, Clorox bleach and recently started distributing writing instruments under the Piano brand. Speaking at the 49th AGM held last week in Nakuru, the Eveready East Africa Managing Director Jackson Mutua said the company will launch two more products this year as part of its five-year diversification strategy, which was launched in 2014.

The Turbo battery brand is owned by Eveready but manufactured by chloride of Egypt while Clorox is being manufactured locally through partnership with Clorox Africa. He said the company’s revenues grew by Sh600 million in 2015 after restating the value of its assets in line with international accounting standards.

The sale of the manufacturing plant which was closed last year in Nakuru, he said, had stalled after failing to get competitive prices for the property, which includes manufacturing equipment and the land on which it sits.

The property valued at Sh120 million before closure remains idle. “We are pursuing targeted selling of the property to investors who understand the value of the assets as opposed to wholesale disposal,” he said.