Trading Day – Harmony Gold reports a loss

Harmony Gold sees a considerable downturn and reports a loss of R1.72 per share. 

Old Mutual reports a massive increase in earnings to R1.18 per share despite a revenue slowdown. 

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• Harmony Gold sees a huge downturn and reports a loss. Company revenue showed a slight increase of 2% to R42.6 billion despite a 3% decrease in gold recovery rate that led to a corresponding reduction in production volume. Earnings per share (EPS) of R8.42 last year turned into a loss of R1.72 per share. Operating free cash flow decreased 55% to R2.9 billion. Harmony still declared a final token dividend of R0.22 per share.
• Old Mutual reports a massive increase in earnings despite the revenue slowdown. Revenue declined 14% compared to the first half of 2021 to R83.4 billion. Funds under management fell 7% from the end of 2021 to R1 184.5 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) jumped 74% to R1.18. The company declared an interim dividend of R0.25 per share.
• Pepkor CEO  Leon Lourens retires and will be succeeded by previous CEO Pieter Erasmus. Lourens has been part of Pepkor for 32 years and has served as CEO since December 2017. He will step down at the end of September. Erasmus served as CEO from 2001 to 2017 before stepping down and serving as a non-executive director.
• Master Drilling reports a substantial increase in earnings. Earnings per share (EPS) increased 57% to R1.37. Revenue increased 34% to $96.5 million, while net cash from operating activities increased 19% to $13.4 million. The company did not declare an interim dividend, in line with its policy.
• Stadio reports a healthy increase in earnings and revenue. Revenue increased 13% to R617 million on the back of an 11% increase in student numbers to 38 350. Earnings per share (EPS) rose 17% to R0.11. No interim dividend was declared.
• Super Group sees a substantial increase in earnings. Revenue increased 17% to R46.2 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) was 33% to R3.79. Cash generated from operations increased 38% to R4.8 billion. The company declared a final dividend of R0.63 per share, up 34%.
• Tsogo Sun posts spectacular recovery from Covid losses and will change its name to Southern Sun. Earnings per share (EPS) went from a loss of R0.32 to a profit of R0.94. Group income was up 37% to R5.2 billion. The company declared an interim dividend of R0.88 per share. Their ticker will also change from TGO to SSU. The record date for the name change is 9 September, while the last day to trade under the old name will be 6 September.
• Woodside, an Australian oil and gas giant, reports a 400% profit surge that lifts share price back to pre-Covid levels. The profit surge is partly due to a merger with BHP Group’s petroleum business. Net profit after tax increased 417% to $1.6 billion on the back of a 19% increase in production volumes to 54.9 million barrels of oil equivalent. Free cash flow increased by 688% to $2.6 billion. The company tripled its interim dividend to $1.09 per share.