NAIROBI: Oil marketer Total Kenya said its first-half pretax profit dropped by 5 percent due to inflation and volatility in international oil prices. The group, part of French oil major Total, posted an 891.7 million shilling ($8.6 million) pretax profit in the six months to June 30, against 1 billion shillings in the same period in 2014.
The company’s turnover fell to 64 billion shillings from 90.4 billion shillings the previous year, due to lower sales volumes. Managing Director Ada Eze said the economic environment was challenging due to volatile petrol prices and the shilling’s depreciation against the dollar.
“However, the board is optimistic that with the planned investments and strategies in place, the performance for the second half of the year shall remain positive,” Eze said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Eze said the company invested 517 million shillings towards the improvement of its operations, compared to 500 million shillings over a similar period in 2014. The company directors did not recommend payment of an interim dividend.
