Kenya Tea Grower Williamson Back in Profit

Williamson Tea Kenya PLC (WTK), a public limited company that grows and processes tea in Kenya’s western highlands, has reported a profit for the half year to 30 September 2026. The company is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Kenya’s main stock market, and its own release was not available to us when we wrote.

What the Results Show

The half-year results show revenue up 24.8% to KSh 2.11 billion (about US$16.2 million at US$1 = KSh 129.91, RT market-data rate, 12 November 2026). Operating profit was KSh 260.5 million (about US$2.0 million), against an operating loss of KSh 111.6 million (about US$0.86 million).

The results show profit before tax of KSh 396.2 million (about US$3.05 million), against a loss of KSh 23.6 million (about US$0.18 million). One report labels KSh 284.1 million as profit after tax, while the other gives a net profit of KSh 291.6 million (both about US$2.2 million).

The two figures differ, and the company statement should settle which is right. One report puts the loss a year earlier at KSh 8.8 million (about US$68,000) and the other at about KSh 10 million (about US$77,000).

Both say the company swung from a loss to a profit. The results also include a fair-value gain on biological assets of KSh 56.9 million (about US$0.44 million).

Biological assets are the growing tea bushes, valued under accounting rules.

Last Year’s Picture

In its annual accounts for the year to 31 March 2026, WTK reported a net profit of KSh 120.8 million (about US$0.93 million), against a loss of KSh 166.4 million (about US$1.28 million) a year earlier. Revenue fell 17.2% to KSh 3.40 billion (about US$26.2 million).

The operating loss was KSh 41.6 million (about US$0.32 million), against KSh 392.2 million (about US$3.02 million) the year before. The recommended dividend was KSh 525.3 million (about US$4.04 million), more than that year’s profit.

The dividend is to be funded partly from retained earnings, which are profits kept from earlier years. That is why it exceeds the year’s earnings.

What It Means for You

This is a small company and a modest story for readers in the United States. The people most affected are shareholders on the NSE, tea growers in Kenya’s western highlands, and buyers of Kenyan tea.

One half year does not make a trend, and the second half could look different. Investors should read the company’s own release when it appears.

More is in our Kenya coverage and our Africa coverage.

What Is Not Known

We did not have the company’s own release when we wrote, because we had not seen it. We therefore have no commentary from WTK on the results.

We have no stated cause for the swing, and we do not know the tea price and volume drivers. We also do not know whether an interim dividend has been decided.

The exact profit after tax is unclear, because the two published figures differ. The reports do not explain the KSh 135.7 million gap between operating profit and profit before tax, and fair-value gains on biological assets were KSh 56.9 million (about US$0.44 million).

The company’s release should settle the profit figure. Until then, the range above is the honest picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Williamson Tea Kenya return to profit?

Published reports say it did in the half year to 30 September 2026, with profit after tax of about KSh 284 million to KSh 291 million (about US$2.2 million). One report puts the loss a year earlier at KSh 8.8 million (about US$68,000).

Why did profit swing?

We do not know, because the company’s explanation was not available to us. The results include a fair-value gain on biological assets of KSh 56.9 million (about US$0.44 million).

How did the previous full year look?

Net profit was KSh 120.8 million (about US$0.93 million) in the year to 31 March 2026, after a loss of KSh 166.4 million (about US$1.28 million). Revenue fell 17.2% to KSh 3.40 billion (about US$26.2 million).

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