Raubex Group’s share price leapt 7.7% to R28 yesterday morning after predicting that headline earnings per share for the year to February 28 would be a “pleasing” 25% and 35% higher than the previous year,
The construction, bulk materials handling and mining group said in a trading statement that earnings per share would be between 20% and 30% higher than the previous corresponding period, at between 367.1 cents and 397.7c.
Heps was expected to be between 371.8 cents and 401.5c.
The directors said the results reflected progress made against the strategy to diversify into Australia, public-private partnerships and mining, which had been successfully executed to date.
A main contributor to the earnings growth was the expansion, upgrading and improvement of the Beitbridge border post in Zimbabwe, a contract that was awarded at the end of 2020.
The Taking Over Certificate of the final section, Section 4 – the Staff Village, was received in February 2023 and only minor works needed to be completed in the new financial year to hand over to the client.
There was also another strong performance from the Western Australian operations, contributing 20% to the group’s total operating profit, the group directors said.
The bulk of the Materials Handling and Mining division’s profit was generated by Bauba Resources, supported by a turnaround strategy and working capital injection which had a positive impact on production at the Moeijelijk and Kookfontein mines.
In the Roads and Earthworks division, execution on all projects was progressing well.
“The group is encouraged by increased activity in tender awards over the last few months. The group has been awarded Sanral contracts to the value of around R2 billion since October 2022 which will enhance the already solid order book.”
The Construction Materials division was affected by increased load shedding and inflationary pressures, which had shrunk margins. The group, however, was pleased with the increased demand for the supply and application of bitumen products during the second half of the year.
In the Infrastructure division, the delay in the start-up of the Risk-mitigation IPP round of renewable energy projects impacted profitability.
The division, however, was well positioned to benefit from the roll-out of rounds 5 and 6 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, the directors said.
BUSINESS REPORT