Axia goes to bed with Restapedic

Published: 30 November 2018
AXIA Corporation has acquired a significant stake in one of the suppliers of its subsidiaries, Restapedic Bedding, the chief executive John Koumides has said.

Koumides said at a time a lot of businesses were struggling to keep afloat, the company believes there were still opportunities to explore.

"We have also done some acquisitions. We bought one of the suppliers of TV Sales and Home. We bought a significant stake in Restapedic Bedding and we are waiting for approval from the Competition and Tariffs Commission. We expect it will give us a good opportunity," he told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting this week.

Koumides could not be drawn into divulging the specifics of the transaction.

Restapedic is the second largest bed producer after KDV Bedding and supplies TV Sales and Home, currently the biggest buyer of beds in Zimbabwe.

Axia's main operating business units are TV Sales and Home, Distribution Group Africa and Transerv.

Koumides said Transerv and TV Sales and Home were adequately stocked but was worried about lack of foreign currency allocation from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
"We find it quite sad that the RBZ and government tend to support the fuel sector, but not the transport sector. One would assume that help will be officially secured, but any way we make a plan," he said.

Kuomides added that some goods distributed under Distribution Group Africa require import duty to be paid in forex, adding that this would inevitably cost consumers more.

"The duty on forex has affected some of the products, things like biscuits and chocolates, obviously everyone will be affected. With regards goods for resale, this will cost the customer more because forex will be difficult," he said.

"The allocation of foreign currency is quite inefficient and the retailers, in particular distribution companies, were not mentioned in the budget or any document from the central bank. It's always the manufacturers, miners and agricultural companies."

The distribution unit houses a number of leading brands such as Colgate, Kellogg's, Johnson & Johnson, Tiger Brands, Unilever and Rhodes, among others.

During the year ended June 2018, the group reported revenue of $275,9 million, a 31% growth on the comparative period.
- newsday
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