JOHANNESBURG – Dairy-based foods and beverages group Clover Industries said on Wednesday that its headline earnings per share jumped 223.8 percent to 206.9c in the year to June and announced a total dividend of 75.24c per share, up 210.8 percent over the previous year.
Clover said it had staged an "exceptional" turnaround from a drought-stricken prior year to deliver its best financial performance since listing.
"Strategic efficiency initiatives implemented by management and the normalisation of external factors enabled the Group’s results to recover to expected profit levels," it said.
But while it was pleased to see normalised profitability levels returning to expected levels, Clover said the challenging macroeconomic and trading conditions experienced this year were expected to continue over the next year.
Specifically, inflationary cost pressures in the form of wages, fuel and electricity would continue to take their toll on consumers opting for cheaper alternatives while trade competition for growth and market share remained a key challenge.