Tongaat expects earnings to rise after sugar operations rebound
Tongaat Hulett expects its full-year headline earnings to rise by up to 45%, helped by the rebound in the performance of its sugar operations, which compensated for a weak performance in the starch operations and the land management and development arm. The sugar producer, which has operations in neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, said on Friday that headline earnings in the year to end-March would rise to about R982m from R679m in the year-earlier period. The various sugar operations realised R1.27bn in operating profit, staging a turnaround from a loss of R15m in the previous period and reflecting high sugar prices and effective import duties in the jurisdictions in which the company operates. Sugar production crept to 1.056-million tonnes, from 1.023-million tonnes, as the drought in Kwazulu-Natal and poor growing conditions in Zimbabwe and Mozambique affected volumes. Operating profit in the start and glucose operation dropped to R510m, from R6...
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