A DELTA Corporation senior official has said the blue chip’s buoyant share price at the bourse is driven by the amount of investment that has been made over the years.
Report by Nqobile Bhebhe
Delta has invested more than $60 million since dollarisation as the stock exchange-listed firm is set to commission a new plant at its southern region factory in Bulawayo.
Giving a business overview during a media tour in Bulawayo on Tuesday, Delta’s southern region general manager Cynthia Malaba said the competitive share price was being driven by the amount of investment that has been injected in the business over years.
Malaba said the firm was keen on investing ahead of time as they project rapid economic growth.
“As Delta, we have invested more than $60 million in plant equipment to boost our capacity. The investment has led to a competitive share price at the stock exchange,” said Malaba.
The new plant worth $12 million is the first of its kind in the southern region and has a capacity of 15 000 bottles per hour in a range of 300ml and 500ml volumes.
“It also has capacity to run 1000ml and 2 000ml bottles at 14 500 bottles per hour and 12 000 bottles per hour respectively,” she said.
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The plant is expected to improve availability of beverages across the country, a move that is aimed at building the company’s capacity to meet growing market demand and changing consumer tastes and needs.
The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics bottling line equipment was sourced from Germany and six Delta engineers and technicians went for training in Germany.
“A total of 250 local contract workers were engaged during the installation of the plant. Like any major projects, the installation of this $11,3 million plant went through various challanges. She added that frequent power cuts had become one of the major challenges during installation.
“This, however, necessitated the acquisition of a generator to support the plant and ensure continuous production without interruption,” she said.
The plant is the third investment after two packaging lines at the company’s Graniteside plant in Harare.
