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Johannesburg - The share price of Basil Read Holdings [JSE:BSR] fell by 7% in early trade on Friday following a disappointing trading update.
The group said before the market opened that it expected its earnings for the year ended December 2012 to be between 215% and 225% lower compared to the previously reported corresponding period and headline earnings to be between 185% and 195% lower.
The price at 10:15 was R11 compared with Thursday’s close of R11.85. It bottomed at R8.01 on September 2012 after reaching a 12-month peak of R16.50 on April 10 2012. Its record peak was R39.45 reached on October 30 2007.
In August last year Basil Read said it expected its earnings to be between 10% and 20% lower and headline earnings to be between 25% and 35% lower compared to the previously reported corresponding period.
The company also announced it would pay a special dividend of 175c per share after approval by shareholders of the disposal of TWP Holdings for a cash consideration of R900m. However‚ ths news was overshadowed by the poor trading update.
“The special dividend had been anticipated‚ but the large provisions for losses on contracts and a possible deal with the Competition Commission were disappointing‚” Dirk Noeth construction analyst at Avior Rersearch said.
