Afrox shares jump as gases group declares bigger first-half dividend
Difficult conditions at home and in the rest of Africa were offset by a R1bn hospitals contract, and keeping cost increases to just 3%
Gases manufacturer and supplier Afrox has posted double-digit growth in headline earnings per share, despite continued tough conditions in SA and the rest of Africa. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) rose 11.5% to 98.3c in the six months to end-June, Afrox said on Monday. It said economic conditions in Africa and in SA continued to constrain its outlook, but it was upbeat thanks to wining a R1bn contract to supply all gases to South African hospitals for the next five years. The company’s emerging Africa segment was affected by currency fluctuations and subdued economic growth in some countries where it operates. SA’s economic woes led to a decline in volume in its hard goods business, and marginal volume increases in its industrial packaged gas business. Gross profit after distribution expenses for operations as a whole improved by 6.7% to R913m, or by 7.5% excluding currency effects. The group’s focus on cost containment resulted in operating expenses rising just 3% during the pe...
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