Johannesburg - Bidvest Group, the South African industrial company that spun off its food-services unit this year, said comparable full-year profit rose 2.5 percent as higher earnings from commercial products and financial services helped offset declines in automotive and freight.
Headline earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, were R10.54 for the year through June, excluding the spun-off assets, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Monday. Revenue gained 3.6 percent to R68.2 billion ($4.8 billion).
After the separate listing of spun-off company BidCorp, Bidvest is left with operations that range from car rental and freight services to electrical-equipment distribution. Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Ralphs took the helm from founder Brian Joffe in May when the company unbundled the food-services unit, its largest by sales.
The commercial-products unit, which includes catering equipment and the distribution of Nissan Motor Company forklifts products in South Africa, increased trading profit by 42 percent, while financial services rose 10 percent.
“The group has delivered creditable trading results against the backdrop of challenging market conditions in the southern African region,” the company said. “Bidvest’s internal divisional restructuring and the unbundling of the food services unit has positioned the group well for its next growth phase.”
BLOOMBERG