SOTEMAIL has published its financial indicators for the second quarter of this year. The company lists the factors behind the decline in turnover for the financial year 2023 and the first half of 2024.
In the second quarter of 2024, SOTEMAIL achieved a turnover of 7.8 million dinars, a decrease of 47%, of which 7.1 million dinars on the local market (-42%) and 0.7 million on the export market (-72%).
Cumulative sales as of 30 June 2024 were therefore 19.7 million dinars, compared to 32.6 million dinars at the end of June 2023, a decrease of 39%.
On the local market, half-year sales were down 33% to 18.2 million dinars, while exports were down 72% to 1.4 million dinars.
In addition, the company’s bank liabilities stood at 44.4 million dinars at 30 June 2024, compared with 37.8 million dinars a year earlier (+17%) and 39.9 million dinars at 31 December 2023.
The company noted that it had been subject to a decision to freeze its bank accounts on April 12, 2024, which was lifted on June 5, 2024 following the appointment of a judicial representative by the Monastir Court of First Instance.
“This decision had a significant impact on all of SOTEMAIL’s activities (supply, production and sales) during the second quarter of 2024,” the company’s press release states.
The company explains that it encountered significant operational difficulties during the 2022 and 2023 financial years, which had a negative impact on its performance. These difficulties are linked to a number of external and internal factors, including:
– The difficult economic climate in Tunisia in recent years and the inflationary context, which has had a negative impact on the level of indebtedness and consequently on the level of financial charges, as well as the increase in customer default rates and significant delays in payment in relation to contractual deadlines.
– The negative impact of the COVID-19 health crisis and the war in Ukraine had a significant impact on raw material supply chains and also led to a significant increase in raw material costs worldwide.
– Illegal imports of cheap building materials, particularly from India, led to a significant drop in selling prices in the local market.
These and other factors are behind the decline in sales for the 2023 financial year and the first half of 2024, according to the company.
