Ah-Vest post headline loss

Group revenue was at R37,3 million compared with the R29,9 million reported during the period ended December 2007.

Net loss for the period was at R137,866 from a loss of R1,042 million in the previous comparable period.

Looking ahead, the group said that a plan to initiate and implement corrective action within AH-Vest had been put into place over the past few months.

It said this involved the introduction of Africa Heritage as a strategic investor, the appointment of a substantially new board of directors, the recent appointment of Mel Hill as the financial director and Tony Gonsalves as operations director.

"A thorough investigation and overhaul of systems and controls has been actioned as well as policies and procedures," the company said.

It said that a focus on maintaining costs until performance is satisfactory would be initiated, with profits expected after the 31 December 2008 interim results.

"We have appointed distributors in Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana, and additional sales from these neighbouring countries will contribute to our growth," said AH-Vest.

The group pointed out that its traditional products such as tomato sauce, pasta sauces and Veri Peri continue to perform well and that it intended to build on the range of products and services in the group, with an initial focus on the food sector.

The company said it was evaluating an acquisition strategy going forward.

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