MondiPackaging wraps up tidy earnings

Paper maker Mondi posted higher full-year earnings for last year on Friday, helped by benefits from acquisitions in its packaging business. The South African company, which is also listed in London, said diluted headline earnings a share for the year to -December totalled 91.1 euro cents (R14.47) from 62.7 euro cents a year earlier. Headline earnings a share is the key measure of profitability in South Africa and strips out certain one-off items. “The packaging paper business was the stand-out performer, benefiting from higher average pricing in all key grades and good volume growth,” the company said. Mondi, which is mainly involved in the manufacture of packaging paper, said underlying operating profit was up 22 percent to e99 million. It declared a final dividend of 26.45 euro cents a share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 36 euro cents a share. Mondi Limited gained 5.08 percent to R193.30 on the JSE on Friday. – Reuters