Strategy slashes Adcorp debt

Efforts to turn around Adcorp appear to be bearing fruit, with the group saying on Thursday its debt had fallen more than half in the six months to August.

Efforts to turn around Adcorp appear to be bearing fruit, with the group saying on Thursday its debt had fallen more than half in the six months to August.

The debt reduction to R632m from R1.3bn in the six months to August 2017 and the expected earnings point to an improved performance by the listed employment services group, which in the course of the 2018 financial year put in place a new management team to drive a turnaround strategy.

This came after Adcorp’s net loss in the financial year to February 2018 widened to R561m from R192.4m.

But on Thursday the group said it expected total basic earnings per share for the six months to August to be between 82c and 100c per share, compared to the total basic loss per share of 120.7c in the corresponding period in 2017.

Total headline earnings per share for the period were expected to be between 85c and 93c, compared to the total headline loss per share of 40.1c in 2017.

“The clean-up of the group in [the 2018 financial year] enabled the leadership team to gain an understanding of its true financial position and reset performance,” the company said.

“This represents the first phase of the group’s strategic transformation,” it said.

The group implemented various changes after investment company Value Capital Markets bought a 14.55% stake in Adcorp in June 2017.

The company expects total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to range between R200m and R220m, compared to R95m in the six months to August 2017.

Cash generated by operations was R360m, compared to R122m in 2017.