Chams plc, a Nigerian company that specialises in Computer Maintenance and Identity Management (CMIM), has had huge operating expenses and rising cost of sales compound its woes as it posted a loss of N360 million in 2021.
BusinessDay analysis showed the technology giant has been unable to tap into the Nigerian market due to its inability to control costs that swallowed operating profits.
Since 2015, the company has recorded a continuous year on year loss until it reached a profit of N380 million, N323 million in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The COVID pandemic resulted in a dip in 2020, the company’s loss stood at N360 million in December 2021 from N944.8 million loss in December 2020.
Cham’s plc revenue saw an increase of 57 percent to N3.32 billion compared to N2.11 billion in the period under review.
According to the company, Revenue is derived from the sales of various product lines which span across delivery of business solutions, biometric data capture, e-voting platform, business process outsourcing, contract and supplies.
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The company’s cost of sales jumped a huge 91 percent to N2.58 billion in December 2021 from N1.35 billion in December 2020.
Selling and marketing expenses jumped a massive 222 percent to N29 million from N9 million in the same period last year.
Employees and other related expenses stood at N573.5 million, a 22.8 percent increase from N466.7 million in the period under review. Depreciation and amortisation expenses climbed 24 percent to N127.8 million in 2021 from N102.6 million in 2020.
Interest expenses stood at N171.7 million, 34.8 percent jump from N127.3 million in the comparable periods while Finance cost climbed 34 percent to N171.7 million, compared to N127.33 million in the period under review.
Interest income rose to N76.4 million from N1.11 million in the period under review.
Other operating income rose to N373.3 million from N35.46 million in the year ago period while Net cash from operating activities dropped to N1.26 billion from N1.68 billion loss in the previous year.
Net cash used in investing activities dipped to N917.6 million compared to N83.07 million year on year loss. Net cash from financing activities dropped to N956.4 million from N1.76 billion in the period under review.
Total assets rose to N11.8 billion, a 68 percent increase compared to N7 billion in the comparable periods.
Cham’s plc is a Nigerian company, having been in business for over 36 years, and listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange since 2008. It is well known for having championed identity management and other major initiatives in Nigeria, including BVN and INEC projects over the years, Chams Plc has migrated into delivering Fintech and other innovative digital solutions,” according to the company.
