Mixed bag for industrial conglomerate Barloworld
The equipment division in southern African and Russia had a strong first half, as did the automotive operation, but Iberia was disappointing, and logistics profits fell
Pretax and net profit at industrial conglomerate Barloworld fell in the six months to end-March, and revenue ticked up 2%, in a period of mixed fortunes for its various operations. Net profit dropped to R765m, down 5.9% from R813m a year earlier. Pretax profit fell 7.9% to R1.079bn. Revenue rose to R32.532bn from R31.947bn and operating profit was up 5.% at R1.849bn. The effect of currency swings was a R366m loss on currency translations for the group, from a R567m gain a year earlier. CEO Dominic Sewela said the automotive division produced a "record result" in a tough environment; the equipment division in Russia and southern Africa did well, but Iberia was "disappointing"; and the Bartrac joint venture in Democratic Republic of Congo was "well up" on a year ago. "Logistics performance was below prior year due to the weakening trading conditions," Sewela said. Equipment Barloworld has a longstanding partnership with earthmoving equipment group Caterpillar, which includes Caterpill...
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