Stellenbosch based investment firm Remgro on Thursday reported a decline in diluted headline earnings per share to 772.8 cents for the period ended December 2017, from 863.9 cents in 2016.<\/p>\n
Remgro, which has an effective economic interest of 30% in Seacom, reported a drop in sales for the interim period to R14.0 billion, from R14.5 billion, however its trading profit climbed to R741 million, from R408 million before.<\/p>\n
Net profit for the period declined to R4.1 billion, from R5.2 billion in 2016, while its intrinsic net asset value per share increased by 5.7% to R265.84 during the reported period.<\/p>\n
The group declared an interim gross dividend of 204 cents (2016: 194 cents) per share.<\/p>\n
Seacom provides high capacity international fibre optic bandwidth on the African continent. The company recently launched a new line of business where it sells directly to Enterprise customers called Seacom Business.<\/p>\n
Remgro noted that Seacom Business added over 1,000 corporate customers in 2017 and over $22 million in new contract value.<\/p>\n
Remgro\u2019s share of Seacom\u2019s profit amounted to R32 million (2016: loss of R18 million). “This increase is mainly due to improved results in South Africa and Kenya, as well as a once-off realisation of deferred revenue relating to the early termination of long term contracts,” it said.<\/p>\n