![[Kenya] Longhorn Publishers bets on strategic plan to grow profits](Images/2018/09/Longhorn-Publishers.jpg)
[Kenya] Longhorn Publishers bets on strategic plan to grow profits
Longhorn Publishers PLC has recorded a 17% increase in turnover to close at Shs 1.69 billion against the previous year turnover of Shs 1.45 billion.
Profit after tax for the year ended 30 June 2018 rose by 37 per cent to Kes 183 million up from Kes 133 million from the previous year.
Speaking to journalists, Group Managing Director, Simon Ngigi, attributed the growth in pre-tax profit to the successful implementation of the company’s 2015-2018 strategic plan which focused on product diversification, entry into new markets and growth of the digital offering.
The performance was further bolstered by savings achieved through improving the Group’s operational efficiencies, which resulted in the growth of operating margin from 16% to 21%.
The Company’s liquidity position remains strong, having recorded a 76% improvement in the net cash generated from the Group’s operations.
Longhorn Publishers Ltd continues to invest heavily towards growing and improving its digital platforms and its dedicated in-house digital publishing team has been working hard to improve the user experience on the digital platform so as to provide seamless digital solutions to Longhorn’s digital customers.
The Company’s investment in the checktag verification (a system that allows customers to verify whether the book they have bought is a genuine Longhorn book by sending an sms containing the chektag code to 22776 for free) has registered a significant drop seen in loss of revenue to book piracy.
However, the Group MD maintained that piracy remains a significant industry challenge that robs not only the company of revenues but also the author of his income due to loss of intellectual property. He said that Longhorn continues to work with KPA and the government to eradicate the piracy scourge.
With the roll out of the Competency Based Curriculum at the beginning of 2018, Longhorn Publishers has been able to develop several books that have been approved by KICD and for use in schools across the country.
As part of the 2017/18 success story, Longhorn Publishers Ltd was able to have two of its creative works – Blossoms of the Savannah and Inheritance approved as set books for the teaching of literature in secondary schools across the country.
The Group MD stressed that as Longhorn embarks on a new strategic plan for the period 2018-2021, it will increase its focus on growing its digital products and expanding into new territories within Southern Africa and Francophone territories by offering innovative country-specific learning solutions.
