Adjust for discontinued activities, and a £2.3m gain from the liquidation of the SAILS liner services business, and African investor Lonrho managed to fulfil its own forecasts by reporting a £0.6m pre-tax profit in the period. That compares to a £7.8m pre-tax loss in the previous year.
Indeed, Lonrho continues to make decent progress across its portfolio. In agriculture, the Rollex food packaging business has developed the capability to export fish and meat from Namibia to Europe - further cold store and agri-processing facilities are planned in Angola, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Moreover, agronomists are finalising reports on proposed new farming operations in Malawi, Angola and Mali. Lonrho also plans to begin trading its John Deere tractors and agricultural equipment franchise this summer.
Meanwhile, airline Fly540 has continued to expand. The company hopes to have is south west African hub in Angola, and its west African hub in Ghana, operational before the year-end. That should help create Africa's first airline, operating to international standards, that connects north to south and east to west. And Luba Freeport, in Equatorial Guinea, continues to attract new clients as the Gulf of Guinea's oil industry expands. Tenants on long-term leases include ExxonMobil, Hess and Schlumberger. The 300m deepwater quay there has been completed and will become fully operational in July.
LONRHO (LONR) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 6.7p | MARKET VALUE: | £51.2m | |
TOUCH: | 6.5-6.8p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 34p | LOW: 2.4p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 11p | NET DEBT: | 2% |
Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Net div per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 11.1 | 0.50 | 0.10 | nil |
2009 | 41.5 | -0.90 | -0.30 | nil |
% change | +274 | - | - | - |