Land sale likely to boost AECI’s H1 earnings by 47%

Explosives and specialty chemicals group AECI expects the R400-million in revenue it earned through the recent bulk sale of land in Somerset West to the City of Cape Town to bolster its headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the half-year ended June 30 by up to 47% to between 168c and 183c, it said on Friday. The transaction, which saw the group realising profit of R294-million, was also expected to lift earnings per share (EPS) by between 7% and 11% to between 38c and 59c for the six-month period.