Bridgetown.
The chairman of the West Indian Biscuit Company (WIBISCO) David Bynoe is complaining that high import duties is negatively affecting its profitability.
Despite a challenging first half of the year, Wibisco made a profit before tax of 2.1 million dollars for the first six months which ended on February 28th.
Bynoe told Trakkker News the company revenue declined by two percent in comparison to previous years as a resulted from a reduction in export sales due to the economic hardship in some of the biscuit company's major markets.
He stated that the gross profit margin had also decreased to about 37 percent.
Bynoe attributes the decline to the increase in flour prices as well as the duty placed on another raw material which he did not identify.
He says the duty places a significant additional cost on the business and Wibisco is working with the relevant authorities to revisit the issue.
The company's operating expenses were however in line with previous years.
Wibisco, in the meantime, is looking to make itself more competitive globally by meeting all the regulations for export to developed markets.
To do this, the company is currently in the process of implementing the necessary requirements to ensure compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act.
