Société Moderne de Céramique – SOMOCER – has published its consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, which will be submitted for approval at the Annual General Meeting to be held on July 31, 2024.
After posting a loss of 13.8 million dinars in 2022, the SOMOCER group increased its deficits last year with a consolidated net loss of 24.7 million dinars.
According to the group, this underperformance was due to a number of external and internal factors, including the difficult economic conditions experienced by Tunisia in recent years and the inflationary context, which had a negative impact on debt levels and consequently on the level of financial expenses.
It also resulted from the increase in customer default rates and significant delays in payments in relation to contractual deadlines.
The group also mentioned the negative impact of the COVID-19 health crisis and the war in Ukraine, which had a significant impact on raw material supply chains.
SOMOCER also said that illegal imports of low-cost building materials, particularly from India, had led to a significant drop in selling prices in the local market.
Group revenues fell by 15% to 129.8 million dinars last year, compared with 152.8 million dinars in 2022.
Operating expenses decreased by only 10% to 133 million dinars, including 22.4 million dinars in personnel costs.
As a result, the group’s operating result is in the red at -1.8 million dinars, compared to an operating surplus of 5.8 million dinars in 2022.
Net financial expenses continue to weigh heavily on the Group’s results. These expenses amounted to 21 million dinars, compared to 20.4 million dinars in 2022.
Lastly, the SOMOCER Group stressed that its management had drawn up a business plan for the period 2024-2027 (for the SOMOCER, SOTEMAIL and SOMOCER Négoce companies), according to which the company would be able to meet its commitments and improve its financial situation.
