Exxaro to report up to 42% lift in core headline share earnings

EXXARO Resources, the South African coal producer, said it expected headline share earnings for its 2017 financial year to come in at between 24 to 29 cents compared to a profit of in the previous year of 1,302 cents/share.

The group said that its coal assets had performed well in the period but that the results were skewed by a number of one-off exceptional items including the cost of its recently concluded black economic empowerment transaction. It also lost money from the sale of the Tronox alkali chemicals business.

However, the company made money from the partial sale of its stake in Tronox whilst the reversal of an impairment by Kumba Iron Ore, in which it has a one fifth stake, also affected its numbers positively.

Excluding these items, which Exxaro said was the truer interpretation of its year-end figures, the company is likely to report an increase in core headline share earnings of between 30% to 42%. Exxaro will reports its year-end financial results on March 8.