South Africa’s struggling state-owned defence firm Denel said on Wednesday that it had made an operating loss of 1.7 billion rand ($115 million) in the 2017/18 financial year and that its short-term outlook was under pressure due to cash constraints.
Denel, which makes military kit for the South African armed forces and clients in Africa, the Persian Gulf and Europe, added that it was working on a turnaround plan which included joint venture partnerships at a product and divisional level.
“While Denel has posted modest profits for the past seven years, the significant losses in the company’s 2017/18 results clearly show a business that has had a difficult year, marked by lapses in governance, mismanagement and poor contract execution,” Denel said in a statement.
