Mpact shares lose ground after it announces decline in first-half profit
Mpact shares fell 7% on Wednesday morning, after the packing group reported a drop in its first-half net profit, citing a disappointing performance in its plastic business. Group net profit fell to R45.6m in the six months to end-June, from R52.3m in the matching period a year ago, despite a slight increase (3%) in revenue to R5bn. This came as the underlying operating profit in the plastics converting business more than halved to R26m, from R56.7m, due to due to what the company said was overcapacity in the styrene sector, which resulted in lower margins. Mpact Polymers reported an operating loss of R39m, an improvement from R30m a year ago, with production in line with the previous period, but below expectations. The business experienced low yields and higher maintenance costs due to dirty feedstock of post-consumer PET (polyethylene-terephthalate) bottles and inadequate washing facilities. But underlying operating profit in the paper business rose 23% to R219.2m due to higher thr...
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