Africa-Press – South-Africa. Shares in industrial group Barloworld rose as much as 6% in opening trading on Wednesday, after the group flagged double-digit profit growth
Revenue rose 15% to R16.5 billion in the five months to end February, the company said in a trading update, with earnings before interest, taxation depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) up 11% to R1.9 billion.
The group’s Southern African equipment business saw its revenue surge by 42% to R10.2 billion, driven by increased machine and parts sales, with operating profit from core trading activities up more than a third.
The company said its order book also remained strong at R5.7 billion at the end of February, up 21% from September.
But its Eurasian equipment business saw revenue fall 39% to $179 million (about R3.3 billion), with revenue in Russia halving as that business battles with product availability following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Barloworld is the official Caterpillar dealer in parts of Russia, which has been hit by sanctions following the invasion.
Despite this, the company said the result was better than expected, with strong demand for available products, realising good margins.
Read | Barloworld to hang on to Russian operations for the time being
Ingrain, Tongaat Hulett’s former starch business, grew revenue by 23% to R2.8 billion, the company said, boosted by higher commodity prices and growth in export volumes, which offset the flat domestic sales volumes.
Despite demand challenges due to economic pressures on South African consumers, overall domestic sales volumes held up, in line with the prior period.
Volumes in the alcoholic beverages sector were flat year-on-year, whilst the confectionary sector continued to show robust volume growth.
By early morning, Barloworld’s shares were up almost a percent to R88.28, after reaching R92.79 earlier in the session.
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