Edgars appoints Chesternoel Mutevhe as Group Chief Finance Officer

BUSINESS REPORTER

 

Listed apparel retailer, Edgars Stores Limited, has appointed seasoned Chartered Accountant, Chesternoel Mutevhe as the new Group Chief Finance Officer (GCFO), effective from January 1, 2023.

The Deloitte-trained Mutevhe, takes over from Happiness Vundla, who departed Edgars Group at the end of October last year.

In a statement, Edgars company secretary, Sikhumbuzo Mate, confirmed the appointment of Mutevhe this week.

 

He said  having served as CFI Holdings Limited’s group finance director for seven years, Mutevhe brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Mutevhe had previously held a number of other roles at CFI, including Group Financial Controller, Group Treasurer, and Group Company Secretary.

 

Prior to his latest appointment at Edgars, Mutevhe, was the Head of Finance at Karo Platinum.

 

The  engagement of  Mutevhe  follows  the recent appointment of  Savious Mushosho as the new Group Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Tjeludo Ndlovu, who left the group on October 31, 2023.

 

 

 

“The board would like to announce the appointment of (Chesternoel ) Mutevhe as the GCFO with effect from January 1, 2024,” Mate said.

 

He added: “He brings with him a wealth of experience in the FMCG sector having worked for CFI Holdings Limited as Group Finance Director for seven years. Prior to that he held the positions of Group Company Secretary, Group Treasurer and Group Financial Controller. In addition, he headed the property development outfit for CFI Group. His most recent assignment was head finance in Zimbabwe for Karo Platinum. Chesternoel is a qualified realtor and Chartered Accountant, having trained with Deloitte.”

In a trading update  for the nine months  to October 8, 2023, Edgars GCEO, Mushosho , said the group  performed remarkably well  in the third quarter generating  unit sales of 649,788 which was 28.5% up from the same period last year which had 505,531.

However, Mushosho said:“Cumulatively for the nine months to 08 October, the unit sales were 2.4% below last year due to the currency instability experienced in the second  quarter which saw customers losing a significant part of their buying power especially the civil servants who are 35% of our business.”

According to Mushosho, despite economic difficulties, clientele improved over the period under review.

“As at  October 8, borrowings closed at US$5.4m up from US$4.9m in Q2 and ZWL$3bn compared to ZWL$3.4bn as at end of the second quarter, with the average cost of borrowing for ZWL$ at 107.99% per annum compared to 89.35% per annum in June 2023 while the US$ average cost of borrowing was 13.39%.

“The group had US$125,456 in foreign liabilities which it can service from existing resources,” Mushosho said.

With 260,043 units sold in the third quarter of 2022, the Edgars chain saw a 39.7% increase in sales.

Nonetheless, chain unit sales for the nine months ended October 8 were, on average, 2.16% lower than the same period in 2022 (718,768 vs. 703,253).

Revenue for the nine months was up 43.99% relative to the same period last year.

Credit sales constituted 63% of total sales compared to 54% in the same period last year.

According to Mushosho, the Jet chain sold 334,910 units in the third quarter, an increase of 18% over the 283,877 units sold in the same period last year.

Nonetheless, overall chain unit sales for the nine months ending on October 8 were 4.10% lower than those of the previous year .

Credit sales made up 60% of the total sales for the quarter compared to 49% in the same period last year. Stock cover closed at 10.6 weeks (2022: 12.46 weeks).

The ZWL$ book reduced to ZWL$2.67 bn from a December 2022 balance of ZWL$2.85bn   while the US$ book grew 50.0% on the December 2022 balance to close at US$9.5m.

He said the debtors book performance remained healthy, with 80.6% of the ZWL$ book being current compared to 72.4% in September 2022 and 61.5% in December 2022 while 82.2% of the US$ book was current at the close of the quarter down from 90.4% as at December 2022.

The manufacturing business achieved a growth in sales units of 54.6% to 54,835 in the prior year during the quarter under review.

Cumulatively, unit sales were up 17.6% to 122,789 (2022: 104,405).

This was achieved through giving focus to local production to achieve exclusivity and high quality.

“There are plans to acquire more machines including a laser Cutter to improve efficiencies, increase production capacity and reduce cost of production.  At the end of September 30, the factory had enough stocks of raw materials to meet the increased demand from the chains. Orders for more fabric were placed to cover 12 months of production for all the product ranges. There are plans to produce for the South African market in the coming year,” Mushosho said.

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