ANNUAL RESULTS
Afrimat ascribes slump to political events fallout
The prospects for the producer remain strong, says analyst
Aggregates and industrial minerals producer Afrimat says its annual results have been negatively affected by political events in SA, which “severely hurt” business confidence. The uncertainty prevailed for the remainder of financial 2017, while an economic slowdown during the last quarter of the year had exacerbated the “operating climate”. This led to headline earnings per share (heps) falling 8% to 180.7c per share for the year ended February. But Anthony Clark, an analyst at Vunani Securities, was upbeat about the company’s prospects on Thursday, despite a 17-year low in construction industry confidence in SA. He had recently upgraded Afrimat “back to a buy” with a target price of 3,600c. “Results were in the middle of lowered heps guidance with extraneous factors principally in the third and fourth quarters,” Clark said. This had negatively affected the core aggregates business and the group’s iron-ore mine. “Both should reverse in the year ahead,” Clark said. The prospects for ...
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