Vunani sees 300% rise in earnings

VUNANI’s share price leaped more than 27 percent on the JSE yesterday after the company said in a trading update that it expected basic earnings per share (Eps) and headline earnings per share (Heps) to be up by at least 300 percent and 150 percent respectively for the year to end February.

The share price yesterday rose to R2.30 a share at the close, gaining 50 cents on Tuesday’s R1.70 closing price on the market.

Turned fortunes

The company said the basic earnings per share would increase to a minimum of 24.8 cents a share compared to 6.2c a share for the previous corresponding period.

Vunani turned its fortunes in 2016 when it reported a R8.6 million profit, following a loss of R25.3m in 2015.

Chief executive Ethan Dube sounded confident after the 2016 results and said that the group was on a sound footing to build a strong financial footprint in the future.

Dube also expected the group’s acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Fairheads International Holdings for R210m in 2015 to make a huge difference in profits in the years ahead. The transaction allowed Vunani to enter into a new market and to diversity its service offering within the financial services sector.

In the upcoming annual results the group said that headline earnings per share would increase by at least 150 percent – which is a minimum of 14.5c a share – compared to the 5.8c a share for the previous corresponding period.

The group added that once the company has more certainty on the expected Eps and Heps, a further trading statement would be released to the market.

In the 2016 results, the group’s revenue shot up by 14.26 percent to R131.4m.

This was from R115m of revenue the previous year, and basic earnings a share increased to 5.8c, improving from the last period’s loss of 22.5c.

Five segments

The group has five different segments which are: fund management, asset administration, advisory services, private equity and private wealth and investments.

The group said that the financial information on which the trading update was based had not been reviewed or reported on by the company’s auditors.

Vunani is to release its annual results on April 26.