JSE-listed engineering and contracting services company Murray & Roberts (M&R) on February 29 said it has made meaningful progress towards implementing a sustainable capital structure.

In a trading statement for the six months ended December 31, 2023, the group noted that it would provide further details when it publishes its interim results on March 6. It noted that this would include details about several cost rationalisation and restructuring decisions that had to be taken following a thorough cost review.

Further, considering the group’s reduced earnings base, it has agreed to a deleveraging plan to settle its debt in South Africa with a consortium of South African banks.

"As stated in December, the group has made meaningful progress with its deleveraging plan, and its remaining debt in South Africa has been reduced to around R400-million, down from around R2-billion in April 2023."

The final milestone in the deleveraging plan is to refinance this remaining debt by June this year, M&R said.

For its continuing operations for the half-year period, the company said it expects to report a headline loss a share of between 14c and 19c, compared with the headline loss a share of 27c reported for the first half of its 2023 financial year.

Similarly, its loss a share for the interim period is expected to be between 11c and 16c, compared with a loss a share of 26c in the prior comparable period.

M&R is an engineering and contracting services company focused on the international underground mining market, and the renewable energy and power infrastructure markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The group is committed to creating shareholder value from the current low base and to ensure that M&R excels as an engineering and contracting services provider to the global underground mining market and its chosen market sectors in Southern Africa," it said in the trading statement.