Johannesburg - Financial holding firm RMB Holdings [JSE:RMH] expects to post a rise in half-year profit thanks to a robust performance by insurer Discovery Holdings [JSE:DSY] and its exit of an emerging market portfolio.
The company said on Monday it expects headline EPS -- the main profit gauge in South Africa which strips out certain one-off, financial and non-trading items -- to be 15-19 percent higher for the six months to end-December.
Normalised earnings per share are expected to be 20-25 percent higher.
RMBH, which owns a 27% stake in Discovery Holdings, said its results would be lifted by Discovery's 54% increase in first-half headline earnings.
It added that its results had also been helped by its successful exit of an emerging market portfolio in which it was invested without incurring further losses.
The company is expected to publish its results on March 10.
- Reuters