JOHANNESBURG – While Transnet recorded a slight increase in revenue this year, it on Monday said the improvement had been dampened by a decline in the volume of commodities it transported.
The state-owned company blamed the fall on the contraction in the mining sector and the weak economy, among other reasons.
Transnet released its annual results on Monday which revealed it had received a qualified audit due to irregular expenditure.
Its revenue increased by 1.6% in the financial year ending March 2019.
The state-owned entity said overall volumes in its freight rail unit declined by 4.9% with the division’s revenue decreasing by 0.3% to R43.6 billion.
The results also cited as disappointing the 6.7% decrease in its general freight business which had decreased volumes of 84.7 million tons due to the weak economic climate locally and internationally, network and resource challenges.
Transnet acting CEO Mahommed Mahomedy said: “They’ve been a very challenging economic condition in the last while. The demand for export product has definitely declined in some areas. Commodity prices seem to be volatile.”
Export coal rail volumes also fell by 6.5% with community unrest, train cancellations and low demand blamed for the decline.