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Picture: 123RF/DRAGANCHE
Picture: 123RF/DRAGANCHE

International supply chain solutions specialist Santova expects its first-half earnings to decline by as much as 21%.

The group said in a voluntary trading statement on Friday that headline earnings per share for the six months ended August are expected to be 47.03c-50.04c, a decline of 16.9%-21.9% from a year ago.

Earnings per share are seen 16%-21% lower at 47.11c-50.09c, it said.

No reason was given for the expected decline.

Business Day reported in June that Santova, which is valued at R934m on the JSE, was
 scrambling to secure vessel space for clients amid a global rise in freight rates, which it is banking on to change its fortunes after its “four lost years”.

CEO Glen Gerber said at the time that the year ended February “was not plain sailing”, as abnormally low freight rates, which were “even lower than during the pandemic”, had negatively affected the JSE-listed group.

Revenue for the year ended February fell by R30.2m due to a rapid decline in shipping rates while profit slumped 30.1% to R147.3m. Headline earnings per share decreased 20.1% to 123.77c.

However, Gerber said Santova was on a path to recovery after four “lost years”, characterised by three years of abnormally high earnings obscured by Covid-19 and last year’s depressed earnings due to low freight rates.

He said the tensions in the Red Sea were assisting the industry “to a limited extent”, while the recent increase in freight rates offered it “some respite”.

The company’s share price was up 1.4% at R7.30 on Friday afternoon.

with Michelle Gumede

MackenzieJ@arena.africa

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