[miningmx.com] – ROBYN Berry, CEO of Sentula Mining, said he looked
forward to better times after tackling a number of legacy issues that had helped
depress the coal mining and contracting business.
A final sequestration against former directors who had perpetrated millions of rands
in fraud; the sale of its loss-making contractor business, Megacube; the settlement
of a legal dispute with Umcebo Mining and the likely reopening of the Nkomati mine
would help turn around the company’s fortunes in its current financial year.
This was after reporting a R532m loss for the year ended March 31, a performance
affected by the non-cash write-down of assets held in Megacube and a loss on
equipment sales from that part of the business.
Headline earnings per share, which excludes the non-cash write-down, came in at a
profit of 21.7c, which compares against a 16.1c per share profit in the previous
financial year.
“Despite ongoing global economic volatility and its impact on the local mining
industry, Sentula, having dealt decisively with its loss making subsidiary, Megacube,
should benefit from improved earnings visibility in the future,’ Berry said in
commentary to the company’s results announcement.
“The diverse nature of Sentula’s earnings and its exposure to coal, a more defensive
sector, should continue to support the underlying fundamentals and ensure the
group’s revenue base remains intact,’ he said.
Sentula recently completed a BEE deal that includes Anglo American’s Khula Mining
Fund, which would improve Sentula’s competitiveness in tendering for new business.
Shares in Sentula gained 7% to trade at R1,91/share after falling from about
R2,31/share from April.
