Company news in brief

Sanlam expects strong profit growth

Sanlam, the largest non-bank financial services group in Africa, said it expects to report strong earnings growth next week when it announces its 2023 annual results.

Sanlam’s main earnings barometer, cash net results from financial services, is expected to increase by between 15% and 25% to between 545 cents and 592 cents a share.

"Growth was strong across all lines of business," Sanlam said in an emailed statement after the trading update was published. "Risk experience profits, higher investment market levels and robust performance from the group’s India operations were key contributors to the growth."

Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to increase between 12% to 22% to between 670 cents and 730 cents a share. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are likely to climb 43% and 53% to between 676 cents and 723 cents a share.

"Management views cash net result from financial services as a better representation of group earnings performance than EPS and HEPS," Sanlam added. – Fin24



MTN profit to take massive hit

In a trading update for the year to end-December, MTN warned that its headline earnings per share could drop by between 60% and 80%.

This was largely due to a slumping Nigerian naira against the US dollar, which hiked MTN Nigeria's operating and finance costs. MTN also announced sizeable restatements of MTN Nigeria's accounts, which impacted its bottom line.

The naira has weakened more than 70% against the dollar since the country's central bank liberalised its forex market in June.

From headline earnings per share of 1 154c a year before, MTN now expects earnings of between 231c and 462c for the past year. The foreign exchange losses in MTN Nigeria alone equated to a 593c per share hit – compared to only 52c in the previous year.

While MTN Nigeria saw large losses in dollar, the group reported strong business growth, with data traffic up almost 45% and transaction volumes at its mobile payments business MoMo gaining 49%. In naira, service revenue grew by almost 23%, with an acceleration in the fourth quarter ( 25%).

But the naira's weakness took a large toll, especially as MTN Nigeria's lease costs for cellphone towers are indexed to the dollar. This largely resulted in a reported loss after tax of 137.0 billion naira compared to a restated profit after tax of 348.7 billion naira in 2022.

The group said it had to restate its profit after a review of MTN Nigeria's financial statements. – Fin24



SAB takes market share from Heineken

South African Breweries (SAB) has delivered record high volumes, amid strong revenue and profit growth, its parent AB InBev’s fourth-quarter and full-year results showed.

The local unit’s top brands, such as Carling Black Label as well as Corona and Stella Artois, had helped drive strong growth with record high full-year volumes for the financial year ended 31 December 2023. SAB said it was taking market share from its rivals.

Although it did not specifically name any competitors, analysts said it was likely that some of the gains came at the expense of Dutch brewing giant Heineken, which earlier in February reported volume declines in SA in financial year 2023.

SAB’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 7% to US$19.9 billion for the full year. In its fourth quarter, ebitda rose 6.2% to US$4.87 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, revenue fell 17.3% in the US, with sales to retailers down 12.1%, primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light. – Fin24