Barloworld Sees Robust Congo Growth Building on Strong 2018

(Bloomberg) -- Barloworld Ltd. said strong demand for copper and cobalt continues to support mining activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo despite a dispute between producers such as Glencore Plc and the government over a new mining code.

• The South African distributor of Caterpillar Inc’s construction machinery reported an 18 percent rise in full-year headline earnings per share to 11.51 rand, and raised the dividend by 18 percent.

Key Insights

• Looking ahead, Barloworld’s predominantly mining-focused customers are awaiting the finalization of South Africa’s new mining charter, aimed at protecting growth and increased black participation in the industry.
• The company’s doing its own bit to redress economic injustices from the apartheid era. It sold a 2.8 billion-rand ($199 million) property portfolio to a black controlled company, and set up a new foundation to receive 3 percent of Barloworld shares.
• Robust revenue growth in the year through September was buoyed by a record performance from Russia, though Barloworld warned mining equipment sales in that country may fail to meet 2018 levels in the current fiscal year.

Market Reaction

• The shares rose as much as 4.4 percent in early trade in Johannesburg, the most in almost three weeks, before trading 0.7 percent higher at 116.75 rand as of 9:31 a.m. in Johannesburg. The stock is still down 27 percent this year.

Get More

• Read more about the news here and here.

To contact the reporter on this story: Felix Njini in Johannesburg at fnjini@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Andrew Noël

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.