Johannesburg - African Oxygen (Afrox) [JSE:AFX] reported flat revenue on its half-year results, owing to tough economic conditions.
Afrox MD Brett Kimber told Fin24 that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebidta) was down 2% and the group declared a dividend of 24 cents.
Headline earnings per share dropped 10.2% to 49.5 cents from 55.1 cents, for the first half of last year.
Mining production fell by about 5.7% and manufacturing output was also down 1.6% in the first quarter and 0.4% in the second.
Kimber said the group's results were affected by "tough conditions with the strikes and economic headwinds".
Afrox, which deals with gases, hard goods and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is positive about the future though.
"Going forward we see opportunities around solar and our investments in Port Elizabeth. The new Air Separation plant in Coega, plus expansions in Durban and we have just commissioned a new hydrogen plant in Pelindaba.
"Our investments that we are making in emerging Africa, specifically Mozambique, Kenya and Angola, will drive our growth as well."
Kimber said as far as the economy is concerned, the next six months will continue to be fairly tough, but Afrox is focused around its customer service, its safety and its plant reliability.
He said these will support the group to "bounce back fairly significantly" when the economy and tailwinds start supporting it.
Watch: Afrox set to bounce back - CEO