In spite of 13% fall in rubber price, Safacam maintains net income

Scarcely FCFA 40 million difference stands out in net income after tax achieved by the Cameroonian Public Limited Agricultural and Forestry company (Société Anonyme Agricole et Forestière du Cameroun - Safacam) in 2014 and 2015.

Safacam earnings move from FCFA 1,846 billion in 2014 to FCfa 1,807 billion in 2015, according to the official financial statements of this company listed on the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX), the Stock Exchange in Cameroon.

This result could be likened more to an achievement, taking into account the background of decreased rubber prices, one of the main products of Safacam. Indeed, we learn, that even though Safacam rubber production increased by 4% in 2015, the average selling price per kilogramme of this commodity, experienced a 13% decrease compared to the preceding year, falling from FCFA 871 in 2014 to FCFA 720.5 in 2015.

The effect of this situation of the decline in rubber prices has however been minimised in the 2015 accounts of Safacam by the relative improvement observed in the palm oil branch of this agro-industrial enterprise of which the company Safa owns 68.9%, a company which is itself controlled by French industrialist Vincent Bolloré.

Indeed, we learn officially, in addition to the production increasing by 311 tons, from 13,828 tons in 2014 to 14,139 tons last year, Safacam palm oil was sold at FCFA 478.1 in 2015, against FCfa 445 in the year before, an increase of FCfa 33. All this contributed in balancing out the company's profit and loss account, in spite of the difficult market environment around the price of rubber.