Investment firm Remgro said yesterday in a trading statement for the six months to December that its headline earnings per share (heps) were likely to decrease between 35% and 45% mainly due to Heineken Beverages’s trading results, among other corporate actions.
Heps were flagged at between 344 cents and 407c.
The firm said the decrease was largely driven by Heineken Beverages' volumes being impacted by lower industry growth, load shedding, a shift from premium to mainstream and a challenging competitive environment.
Margins were also negatively impacted by non-recurring expenses related to integration and supply chain challenges.
It also said a lower contribution from Community Investment Ventures Holdings mainly due to higher finance costs resulting from increased interest rates; and a special dividend received from FirstRand of R154 million in the comparative period dented the heps.
Remgro's interim results are expected to be released on March 19.
Knocking the interims were also the IFRS 3 amortisation and depreciation charges relating to the additional assets identified when Heineken Beverages obtained control over Distell Group and Namibia Breweries.
Furthermore, among other corporate actions, the expected interims were hit by Remgro's portion of the negative fair value adjustment made by TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa on its Natref stock due to Natref being classified as held for sale in terms of IFRS 5 as well as Remgro's portion of the transaction costs incurred when it acquired MediClinic.
BUSINESS REPORT