| Wed 6 May 2009, 15:32 | | TBS - Tiger Brands Limited - Trading statement |
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TBS
TIIH
TBS - Tiger Brands Limited - Trading statement
TIGER BRANDS LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1944/017881/06)
Share code: TBS
ISIN code: ZAE000071080
TIGER BRANDS LIMITED
("Tiger Brands" or "the Company")
TRADING STATEMENT
Introduction
The Company is of the view that sufficient certainty exists with regard to its
performance for the six months ended 31 March 2009 to enable it to issue this
trading statement.
The unbundling and separate listing of the Company`s Healthcare interests in
August 2008 and the planned disposal this year of the Company`s interest in Sea
Harvest has given rise for the need to distinguish in this trading statement
between earnings from continuing operations, which exclude the Healthcare and
Sea Harvest results, and total Group earnings which include the Healthcare
results for the comparative period ended 31 March 2008 as well as the results of
Sea Harvest in both the comparative and current periods.
Earnings from Continuing Operations
Shareholders are advised that, having considered the latest financial
information in respect of the six months ended 31 March 2009, it is expected
that headline earnings per share ("HEPS") from continuing operations will
reflect an improvement of between 5% and 9% compared to that achieved in the
corresponding period of the previous financial year. Earnings per share ("EPS")
from continuing operations for the six months ended 31 March 2009 is expected to
be between 21% and 25% above that achieved in the same period of the previous
financial year.
The higher percentage improvement in EPS compared to HEPS is primarily due to
the inclusion in abnormal items, in March 2008, of an amount of R112,3 million
relating to the impairment of the carrying value of the goodwill associated with
the Beverages business, which is excluded for the purposes of determining HEPS.
Costs of R32,6 million were incurred in the current period relating to the
unsuccessful approach by Tiger Brands to acquire the entire issued share capital
of AVI Limited. Excluding these costs, the respective rates of growth in HEPS
and EPS from continuing operations would have been approximately 3.7% and 4.2%
higher.
Total Group Earnings
Total Group HEPS is expected to reflect a decline of between 15% and 19%
compared to the same period last year, whilst total Group EPS is expected to
reflect a decline of between 6% and 10%. Total Group HEPS and total Group EPS
for the six months ended 31 March 2009 include the results of Sea Harvest,
whereas the corresponding figures for the six months ended 31 March 2008 include
the results of both Sea Harvest and the unbundled Healthcare interests.
Consequently, total Group HEPS and total Group EPS are not directly comparable
with the comparative period.
The costs in respect of AVI Limited referred to above have adversely affected
the rate of decline in total Group HEPS and total Group EPS by approximately
2.7% and 3.0% respectively.
The results for the six months ended 31 March 2009 will be released on 19 May
2009 when a detailed analysis of the performance of the Company will be
provided. The information in this trading statement has not been reviewed or
reported upon by the Company`s auditors.
Bryanston
Date: 6 May 2009
Sponsor
JP Morgan Equities Limited
Date: 06/05/2009 15:32:28 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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