“It won’t be the usual tame ‘tea-and-biscuits’ affair”, said independent analyst, Anthony Clark referring to the upcoming Bell Equipment AGM. Management might believe it notched up some solid progress in 2017 and again in 2018 after what it described as one of the group’s “most challenging years” in 2016, but not all the shareholders are convinced. Chair Gary Bell and CEO Leon Goosen told shareholders at the release of the 2018 results that the group “had maintained the positive momentum sparked in 2017 by delivering another set of solid results”. Financial 2016 had marked a particularly tough year in what was a generally grim period for the 62-year old heavy-equipment manufacturer. But some shareholders were unimpressed with the 10% revenue increase and 3% advance in headline earnings reported for the 12 months to end December 2018. The more vocal among them are planning to raise their concerns at next week’s AGM, which will be held at the group’s head office in Richard’s Bay. This...

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