Corporation reflects on succesfull six months
Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) brought home the bacon big time in the first half of the financial year (April to September), recording Profit After Tax of P29 million.
This represents a whopping P25.5 million increase from the P3.5 million recorded at the same stage in 2022.
The improvement was attributed to a rise in rental revenue (22 percent) and finance income as well as a decrease in repairs and maintenance.
Total revenue for the six-month period stood at P273 million, up from P251 mill in the previous year.
Rentals raked in P169 million, P30 million more than last year, with a rental subsidy from Government responsible for P29 million of this income source.
Property sales went up 52 percent to P8 million, including the sale of 53 ‘old stock’ units and three ‘new stock’ units. The vacancy rate stood at 1.5 percent, well below the industry rate of 3 to 5 percent.
The corporation’s cash position also remained strong, with total cash balances of P439 million, down P10 million, while total reserves stood at P1.648 billion – a rise of P48 million.
Although the Pula flowed, BHC’s assets actually dropped by P30 million, standing at P2.806 billion, which was caused by re-payment of long-term borrowings and contract liabilities.
“The Corporation remains confident of posting positive results by the end of the financial year. However, the Corporation is cognizant of the challenging economic environment that BHC operates in and would continue to respond to emerging economic risks. Management will continue to implement cost containment initiatives to mitigate subdued revenues,” said Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nkaelang Nkaelang, in BHC’s unaudited report.
“BHC is actively starting new projects in different parts of the country for future delivery. These projects are currently being marketed to ensure uptake at time of delivery. The envisaged projects will add to the key mandate of BHC of housing the nation and are mainly targeted to low-medium income segment of the market,” added Nkaelang.
During the half-year period under review, BHC delivered 18 housing units in Tonota, and commenced work on 147 units in Kazungula and 13 in Phakalane.
The corporation plans to start projects of 318 units in Gaborone Block 7, 100 in Maun, and ten housing units in Tsabong before the end of the current financial year (March 2024).