Johannesburg - Telkom’s share price gained more than 6.58 percent yesterday afternoon after the group announced it expected normalised headline earnings a share for the six months to September 30 to increase by as much as 30 percent.
Telkom said earnings for the six months were impacted by voluntary early retirement packages and voluntary severance packages of more than R1.5 billion with a tax benefit of R446 million.
As a result, the reported headline earnings a share were expected to increase by between 370 percent and 390 percent when compared with the previous corresponding period.
The reported basic earnings a share were expected to increase between 205 percent and 225 percent.
On a normalised basis - excluding the impact of voluntary early retirement packages and voluntary severance packages and the related tax benefit - headline earnings per share were expected to increase by between 10 percent and 30 percent.
Telkom last year embarked on a turnaround process which entailed offering voluntary early retirement and severance packages.
Telkom said the earnings included the performance of wholly-owned subsidiary, BCX, which had been incorporated for the full six months compared to one month in the prior period. Interim results will be released on November 15.
Shares rose 7.46 percent yesterday to close at R62.37.
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