JOHANNESBURG – Pepkor, formerly Steinhoff Africa Retail, shares yesterday plunged 6.74 percent after the group warned that its profits for the year ended September would decline by at least 32 percent.
It would no longer exercise the call options on Shoprite shares it had announced in December last year.
Pepkor said its results would be affected by one-off costs pertaining to a provision for exposure on a corporate guarantee and associated loans.
“The total exposure was provided for during the time of the interim results and amounted to R500million,” it said. “These one-off costs will negatively impact 2018 financial year basic and headline earnings per share.”
The company in December had said it would exercise its call option agreements with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Lancaster, Titan and Lavender Sky to acquire a 23.1 percent economic interest in, and 50.6 percent voting control of Shoprite.
The group said the call options with Titan and Lavender Sky had terminated and the board would enter into discussions with the remaining parties – the PIC and Lancaster.