Tongaat Hulett, the sugar group that has been in existence for 170 years, is looking to property development to offset a drop in its traditional business. CEO Peter Staude says land and property development now makes up 34% of the company’s operating profit. The latest financial results showed income from sugar fell more than a third, hit by falling prices on global markets and stronger currencies in markets in which it operates. Tongaat Hulett expects strong cash inflows, mainly in the second half of the next financial year, when a “considerable number” of property transfers are registered. In the meantime, group operating profit for the year ended March 2018 slumped 16.1% to R1.96bn, as headline earnings per share plunged 38%. Operating profits from sugar dropped to R837m from R1.27bn in 2017. The company cut its annual dividend in half to 160c per share in the period. Staude said on Monday the government had not made “timeous” upward revisions to SA’s sugar import duty in the fir...
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