Nairobi — Agricultural firm Sasini on Wednesday said it hopes to boost its pre-tax profit from Sh108 million to Sh579 million by 2012 following the initiation of diversification and value addition projects.

The firm said that it had so far spent Sh386 million of the Sh600 million it raised through a corporate bond to achieve the ambitious target.

The five-year issue in 2007 with biannual interest payment of 11.75 per cent, was later listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Enough funds

Bondholders will receive 10 per cent of Sh600 million or Sh60 million from Sasini on June 3, 2010.

"We have generated enough funds to pay them all," Sasini chairman James McFie told investors and bondholders in Nairobi.

He said the company's diversification has been successful riding on high tea prices.

"Since November 2009 most parts of India, which is a major tea producer, did not receive rain thus we expect high tea prices to hold for longer time," said Dr McFie.