JOHANNESBURG - Improved demand and sales was one of the factors that positively impacted on the financial performance of Bell Equipment, the listed manufacturer of heavy equipment for the construction and mining sectors, in the year to December.
Bell said on Friday that it expected its headline earnings a share to be at least 192cents higher for this reporting period than the 48c in the previous year.
It reported in November that it expected both its earnings a share and headline earnings a share to be at least 150c, which has now been increased to at least 240c.
It said the expected increase in earnings was largely due to an improvement in demand in the markets in which the group was active and commensurate increases in production and sales volumes; the weaker rand against the euro during most of the second half of last year; good cost containment; a reduction in the losses incurred by the company’s subsidiary in the DRC; and certain once-off recoveries last year. Bell Equipment expects to publish its annual financial results on March 16.
Shares in Bell Equipment rose 3.85percent on Friday to close at R13.50.