PSG Group expects 16.8% rise in earnings
Share price rallied 7%-plus
INVESTMENT Holding PSG Group has said that its Sumof-The-Parts (SOTP) value per share for the year to end February would be 29 percent higher compared to 2016.
PSG’s SOTP value at the end of February was R240.87 – much higher than the R186.67 reported on February 2016.
The group said it had decided to continue to use the SOTP value and recurring headline earnings per share as benchmarks to provide management and investors with a realistic and transparent way of evaluating its performance.
It said the SOTP value was calculated using the quoted market prices for all JSE-listed investments, and market-related valuations for unlisted investments.
In a trading statement released by the group, it said it expected recurring headline earnings per share to rise between R9.20 and R9.30 – a 16.8 percent to 18 percent jump compared to the R7.88 reported for the year to end February 2016.
“The year under review saw resilient recurring headline earnings performance from the majority of PSG’s core investments,” the group said. “Headline earnings per share increased by a higher margin than that of recurring headline earnings per share, mainly due to marked-to-market profits achieved on Dipeo’s investment portfolio, as opposed to marked-to-market losses incurred in the prior year. Attributable earnings per share increased by a smaller margin than headline earnings per share, mainly due to the non-recurrence of non-headline dilution gains made from an accounting perspective on associates in the prior year.”
PSG has invested in strong performing companies like Capitec Bank, private school operator Curro Holdings, Zeder Investments and PSG Konsult.
Rallied
The positive trading statement rallied the PSG share price more than 7 percent on the JSE yesterday, valuing the company at more than R58 billion. However, the share price closed at R249.24 by the end of the day.
The company said it expected headline earnings per share to grow between R9.95 and R10.05 compared to R6.66 reported for the year to February 29, 2016.
“PSG’s recurring headline earnings is the sum of its effective interest in that of each of its underlying investments. The result is that investments in which PSG holds less than 20 percent and are generally not equity accountable in terms of accounting standards, are included in the calculation of consolidated recurring headline earnings. Once-off items are excluded from recurring headline earnings,” the group said.
The group said it also anticipated impressive attributable earnings per share of between R10.05 and R10.15, 40.8 percent higher than the R7.21 reported a year earlier.
In 2016, the company said it had a strong balance with R2.9 billion cash available for further investments.