South Africa-based Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited (PPC) has entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement with a Botswana-based construction and mining company to sell its 100% shareholding in PPC Aggregate Quarries Botswana.
The transaction is valued at US $4.49million with conditions for the agreement expected to be met by 1 August 2021. PPC also anticipates group EBITDA for continuing operations to increase by between 14-18% YoY in the full-year ended 31 March 2021.
Restructuring costs
The increase is notwithstanding the group incurring significant restructuring costs in the current financial year and a full lockdown in April 2020 due to the pandemic. PPC’s full financial statement for the year ended 31 March 2021 is expected to be released on or around 21 June 2021.
Earnings per share (EPS) for continuing operations will, therefore, be between 247% and 258% higher, at between 63c and 68c apiece. This compares with EPS of 43c apiece posted for the year ended March 31, 2020.
This while EPS for the group is expected to be between 10c and 15c apiece, which is an increase of between 108% and 112% from the 124c apiece loss posted in the prior year. Earnings for the 2021 financial year were impacted by hyperinflation, resulting in a net monetary loss of R200-million in the year under review, compared with a gain of R651-million in the prior year.