Johannesburg - Omnia Holdings would be looking to empower as broad a base as possible, managing director Rod Humphris said yesterday, "rather than enriching a few individuals".
As yet the group has not announced any plans for empowerment, but Humphris said the issue was receiving the appropriate attention.
Humphris was outlining Omnia's empowerment philosophy at the release of the group's interim results yesterday.
Humphris acknowledged the pressure that would be brought to bear on the group to comply with the mining industry empowerment scorecard on procurement. Omnia supplies explosives to the mining sector.
As expected, a combination of lower maize prices, late rains and a stronger rand were responsible for the substantially lower earnings at the specialised chemicals group.
Humphris said the results to the end of September were not comparable with the same period last year because the weaker rand during this period last year had boosted export earnings and volumes substantially.
There was also the settlement of an insurance payout of R27.4 million for a loss of profits claim, which boosted profits.
Humphris said it was more meaningful to compare these results with those for the same six-month period in 2001.
Operating profit was down 44 percent to R70.4 million when compared with this period last year, but was up 185 percent on 2001.
Humphris said Omnia continued to move away from its reliance on commodities.
Fertilisers used to comprise 75 percent of Omnia's business, but after the acquisition of chemicals company Prochem, the fertiliser business now made up only 45 percent.
Revenue for the period, when Prochem's sales were stripped out, came in at R1.2 billion from just over R1 billion last year.
The group operating margin was 6 percent, down from 12 percent. Headline earnings a share dropped from R1.782 to 93.6c.
There was just one month's worth of Prochem's numbers in these figures.
Humphris said the group was starting to see more and more of its income coming from fertilisers in the second half of the year.
In the agricultural business, net fertiliser sales were lower than the comparable period to September 2002. This was mainly because of weaker grain market conditions, late rains and the considerably lower exports due to the stronger rand.
The development of electronic delay detonators was progressing, the company said, and Humphris expected the project to be cash generative by the end of next year. The detonators would allow for safer and more accurate detonation, he said.
The explosives industry has been squeezed as mining companies battle to get to grips with the robust rand.
Humphris said the company was bedding down its Prochem acquisition and it would look to export the division's products into other African countries through Omnia's established businesses on the continent.
Omnia was expected to deliver much stronger cash flows and earnings in the second half of the year.
After initially losing about 4 percent during early morning trade, Omnia's share closed 11c, or 0.5 percent, down at R21.59 on the JSE Securities Exchange yesterday.
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