Hulamin: Weak rand helps hike interim earnings

The weakness in the rand helped Hulamin increase its normalised earnings by 42 percent year on year to R130m in the six months to June, the KwaZulu-Natal-based aluminium supplier said yesterday. Normalised earnings increased 18 percent from the R110m posted in the second half of last year. Hulamin said normalised earnings provided a more meaningful measure of underlying operating performance as they took into account non-operational and abnormal gains and losses. Interim headline earnings a share rose 95 percent from 21c to 41c or, on a fully diluted basis, 90 percent to 40c. Basic and headline earnings in the previous year were depressed by a R25m charge for once-off restructuring costs, which were excluded from normalised earnings. No interim dividend was declared. The shares fell 6c to R8.14 yesterday. – Dineo Faku