JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Kumba Iron Ore’s share price on the JSE rose by as much as 6.67% on Thursday morning as the company reported that it expected to post higher earnings for the six months ended June 30.
Kumba expected to report headline earnings of between R2.88-billion and R3.09-billion for the six months, compared with the R2.52-billion reported in the first half of 2015.
Basic earnings for the six months under review were expected to be between R2.84-billion and R3.06-billion, compared with the R2.51-billion in the prior corresponding period.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) were likely to rise by between 14% and 23% to between R8.95 and R9.65 apiece, compared with the HEPS of R7.85 for the six months to June 30, 2015.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) were expected to increase by between 13% and 22% to between R8.85 and R9.55, compared with basic EPS of R7.82 the year before.
The expected increase in earnings was largely attributable to the derecognition of a deferred tax asset of R617-million in the comparative period.
Normalised EPS, excluding this item, are likely to be between R8.95 and R9.65, representing a decrease of between 1% and 8% from the normalised EPS for the
comparative period of R9.78.
Kumba would publish its results on July 26.