Omnia -
OMNIA HOLDINGS LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1967/003680/06)
Share Code: OMN
ISIN Code: ZAE000005153
("Omnia" or the "Group")
TRADING UPDATE AND CAUTIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT
As indicated in Omnia"s year-end results published on 24 June this year, the
financial year ended 31 March 2003 was an exceptional year for the Group. This
resulted from two primary factors: In the first instance, the Group experienced
unusually high export volumes and margins driven by the weak rand. In the second
instance, the long outstanding loss of profits claim for a compressor failure at
the Sasolburg plant during 2000 was finally settled with a payment of R27.4
million during the latter half of the year.
Earnings for the full year to 31 March 2004 were therefore not expected to match
those of the prior year, but to revert to the Group"s historic earnings growth.
As expected, Omnia"s earnings and headline earnings per share for the six months
ended 30 September 2003 will also be substantially* below those of the
comparative period. However, they will be substantially better than the interim
period to September 2001, a more appropriate comparative period.
Earnings have fallen from the exceptional result last year and also due to the
late summer rainfall leading to a delayed start to the summer fertilizer sales.
These will now instead materialize in the second half of the year. The seasonal
phasing of the fertilizer sales always impacts on Omnia"s interim results but
not those of the full year.
The group is on track with exploiting the inherent synergies and opportunities
across all the businesses and with consolidating operations to ensure long-term
growth.
The interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2003 will be published
on the 2nd of December 2003. As the information contained herein has not been
reviewed and/or reported on by the company"s auditors, shareholders are advised
to exercise caution when dealing in the company"s securities on the JSE
Securities Exchange SA ("JSE") until the results are published.
(* "substantially" is defined in the JSE Listings Requirements as a change equal
to or greater than 30% when compared to the prior comparative period.)
Johannesburg
21 November 2003
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 24/11/2003 07:03:02 AM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
Produced by the JSE SENS Department
Profile Group (Pty) Ltd. has taken care in preparing all information on this website, but does not accept any liability for errors or out-of-date information.
