Johannesburg - South Africa's Hudaco Industries reported a 13.9 percent fall in half-year basic and headline earnings per share on Friday, hurt by weak domestic economic growth and lower commodity prices.
An importer and distributor of automotive, industrial and electrical consumable products, said basic and headline EPS declined to 472 cents for the six months to March 31.
Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa and strips our certain one-off items.
Sales in the consumer-related products division fell by 3.7 percent to R1.2 billion ($81 million), while sales in the engineering consumables division remained flat at R1.3 billion.
“Trading conditions were extremely tough with the drought, anaemic economy and weak commodity prices resulting in sharply lower demand. This tough environment created aggressive pricing pressure which reduced the return on sales,” Hudaco said in a statement.
The group over the past few years has sought to reduce its dependence on mining and manufacturing, which account for half of its revenue, as lower commodity prices force clients to cut costs and halt expansion.
The company cut its interim dividend by 5.6 percent to 170 cents per share.
Shares in Hudaco were down 0.49 percent to 106 rand by 07h07 GMT.
REUTERS