Société des eaux minérales du Cameroun deficit...

The first Cameroonian company listed on the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX), Société des eaux minérales du Cameroun (SEMC) has not been doing well. According to the company’s financials, obtained by Ecofin, SEMC finished 2013 with a net loss of -319 million FCfa, compared to -50.5 million FCfa at the end of 2012.

Alarm bells had already gone off in an SEMC general assembly report on June 28, 2013. At this shareholder meeting, the report revealed that the company had lost 11% of the mineral water market share in Cameroon relative to 2012 due to aggressive competition.

In particular, Source du pays (SP), which has largely influenced the mineral water market in 2013 with its 5 and 10 litre, low-cost Supermont brand, has made in-roads.

With this lacklustre performance, SEMC, a subsidiary of the Castel Group’s limited-liability company, Brasseries du Cameroun, remains among the bottom three companies on the DSX along with Safacam and Socaplam.