Johannesburg - South African paper maker Mondi posted a 48-percent jump in first-half earnings on Thursday, helped by the benefits of its recent acquisitions and strong demand for packaging paper.
Mondi, which is also listed in London, said diluted headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June totalled 45.6 euro cents from 30.8 euro cents a year earlier.
Headline earnings, the main measure of profit in South Africa, strip out certain one-off and non-trading items.
The company said its results were helped by acquisitions completed at the end of last year, when it bought corrugated box plants in Germany and the Czech Republic.
The group, mainly involved in the manufacturing of packaging paper, also booked an asset impairment charge of 55 million euro, writing down its uncoated fine paper operations in Austria and its newsprint operations in South Africa.
Mondi said it expects the momentum from the first-half to continue, given a good pricing environment in the packaging grades.
The group declared an interim dividend of 9.55 euro cents per share, up 7 percent from last year.
Mondi shares have gained more than 63.5 percent so far this year, compared with almost six-percent rise in Johannesburg's All-share Index. - Reuters