Johannesburg - Food and beverage group Clover forecast a surge of 64.2 percent to 74.2 percent in headline earnings a share for the financial year to June, putting them 65.9c to 76.2c higher than the 102.7c reported for the previous financial year.
Last month, Clover said earnings a share would be about 20 percent higher than year earlier. But on Friday it said shareholders should expect earnings a share to be 81.3 percent to 91.3 percent higher.
“The much improved performance can be mostly attributed to selling price increases across most categories, albeit with some loss of sales volumes and market share,” Clover said, adding that margins “improved considerably”.
On Friday, Clover shares rose 6.74 percent to close at R19 on the JSE.
The company is due to release final financial results next month.
BUSINESS REPORT