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GRINDROD saw good earnings growth in the six months to June 30 off the back of strong mineral commodity markets, good growth in volumes through Maputo port and favourable net interest margins at Grindrod Bank. Its management predicted a surge in headline earnings to between R389 million and R419m from only R4m at the same time a year before. Core headline earnings were forecast to increase by between 49 and 58 percent to between R514m and R544m. Its and terminals business achieved earnings growth of more than 100 percent compared with the prior six months, the group said in a trading statement yesterday. Maputo Port volumes grew by 30 percent to 12.3 million tons. The port commissioned its upgraded berth infrastructure of six berths, raising…
FORTRESS, with R44.9 billion of property assets and which tried unsuccessfully to collapse its dual share structure at a shareholder meeting on Wednesday, said yesterday that it was unable to comply with minimum distribution requirements of a real estate investment trust (Reit) and it was engaging with the JSE to manage the process. “Fortress’s memorandum of incorporation prevents payment of a distri- bution where distributable earnings is less than the Fortress A distribution bench- mark, in respect of that period, which is the case for both the interim and final six-month periods of FY2022,” the company, which is also South Africa’s biggest logistics real estate developer and land owner, said yesterday. Although the scheme to collapse the dual share structure was “supported by more than 60 percent of…
Coal producer said its earnings grew by 75 percent for the six months to June COAL PRODUCER Exxaro Resources said yesterday that its earnings grew by 75 percent for the six months to end June, boosted by surging coal prices as it flagged that Transnet Freight Rail’s logistic woes were putting a brake on its sterling performance. Headline earnings per share rose by 75 percent to R34.26 per share, up from R19.61 per share in the second half of last year. Exxaro declared an interim dividend of R15.93 per share. The group said it had a strong balance sheet and was cash-flush. The results come as coal miners BHP, Thungela Resources and Glencore this month are also delivering bumper interims on buoyant coal prices. Exxaro said its revenue…
DEPUTY President David Mabuza has warned that South Africa’s municipali- ties continued to owe Eskom billions of rand in outstanding debt, crippling the struggling power utility’s financial position further. Mabuza yesterday told Parliament that the total debt owed to Eskom by various municipalities had ballooned by nearly R5 billion in just four months up to July. “Debt owed by municipalities to Eskom remains a major challenge to the entity’s financial stability,” Mabuza said. “Debt owed by municipalities by Eskom has since grown from R44.8 billion to R49.1bn between March and July 2022. This is not a desirable state of affairs for Eskom and municipalities.” Mabuza was answering oral questions from Members of Parliament in the National Council of Provinces in his capacity as the chairperson of the Political…
CURRO Holdings, the independent school provider, grew its average learner numbers by 7 percent to 70 519 learners in the six months to June 30, while revenue increased by 15 percent to R2.06 billion. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by 20 percent to R467 million. “The group recorded pleasing increases in learners, revenue, profitability and cash generated during the first half,” chief executive Andries Greyling said. The growth in learner numbers also continued, and by August 1 Curro had enrolled 71 011 learners, he said. Recurring headline earnings in- creased by 31 percent to R152m. Recurring headline earnings per share increased by 31 percent to 25.5 cents per share, from 19.4c per share in the prior…
THE LEVELS of happiness in South Africa have plummeted as citizens are confronted with several newsworthy political, economic and social activities that could dampen the mood above and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. Basically, South Africans are now less happy than before and confidence is at an all-time low. This is according to the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) June 2022 research released yesterday, which sampled 1 836 participants to measure their levels of trust and confidence. The Happiness Index showed that unhappiness levels with both the economic and political climate have increased from 54.9 points and 62 points respectively in 2014, to 74.3 points and 77.4 points respectively in 2022. Data showed that simultaneously, positive mood and attitude dropped from 76.4 points in 2012…
