INTERIM RESULTS
Rise in confidence buoys Nampak
Despite much better gearing and better cash remittances from Nigeria, no dividend was declared
Nampak expects higher economic growth forecasts and improved business confidence to drive the demand for packaging products in 2018 and 2019. But despite much better gearing and better cash remittances from Nigeria, no dividend was declared in the interim period to March 2018 due to "significant" frozen cash balances in some countries. The overall result was hit by rand strength against the dollar. Nampak had also decided to dispose of its glass business to free up cash for growth mainly in its metals division, along with debt reduction and enhancing free cash flow. Glass is now a discontinued operation.
Operating profit fell 6% to R1bn in the six months from the same period previously. This was mainly on foreign exchange losses of R75m from the devaluation of the Angolan kwanza, the cost of repatriating cash from Nigeria, R26.6m in net impairments, mainly from the European dairy-filling business, and retrenchment costs in the group’s plastics operations. Trading profit rose 7...
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