DURBAN – Hulamin rose more than 11 percent on the JSE on Friday, despite its warning its that it expected its full-year losses to widen by at least 187.9 percent for the year to the end of December.
The group has delayed publishing its annual results, as it encountered some challenges in finalising them.
On Thursday, the JSE said the group had failed to submit its results timeously, and its listing was under threat of suspension and possible removal.
However, Hulamin said it would release its results on June 26. The group expected to report a headline loss of between 70 cents and 80c a share, which represented a decrease of between 176.9 percent and 187.9 percent, compared with headline earnings per share (Heps) of 91c last year, the group said in its second trading update.
In the first trading update released in March, the group said it expected its headline loss a share to be at least 17c, and its loss a share to be 375c. It advised that it would release a further trading update once there was greater certainty on the range of the financial results that would be reported.
The group said it experienced unusually challenging conditions in 2019, with weak market conditions locally and internationally, resulting in Hulamin Rolled Products sales volumes declining by 10 percent, due to the high fixed manufacturing cost base. Hulamin is an aluminium semi-fabricator business located in South Africa and it supplies customers across Africa and the world.
The group expected to report a basic loss per share of between 370c and 388c compared with the loss a share of 242c last year, representing an increased loss of between 52.9 percent and 60.3 percent, the group said.
“Shareholders are now advised that the financial results are expected to reflect a normalised headline loss per share of between 4c and 11c, compared to the normalised headline earnings per share of 77c reported last year, representing a decrease of between 105.2 percent and 114.3 percent,” the group said.
The group’s executive committee uses normalised headline earnings or loss per share as one of the measurement bases in assessing the financial performance of the group.
Hulamin closed 11.11 percent higher at R1.30 on Friday despite the expected decline in earnings.
BUSINESS REPORT