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Johannesburg - The Bidvest Group reported a 5% increase in half-year profit on Monday, helped by strong performance at its food service unit and favourable currency swings.
Bidvest, a conglomerate spanning automobile showrooms, shipping and catering, said diluted headline earnings per share were 877 cents for the six months to the end of December, compared with 835c a year earlier.
Bidvest, which makes more than half of its sales overseas, said revenue increased 16.5% to R104.4bn.
While industrial firms are struggling with weak economic growth and slack demand from consumers battling high personal debt levels, Bidvest has fared better, as its defensive food service unit offset its more cyclical automotive and freight division.
The food service unit, whose trading profit grow by nearly one-third, supplies food to pubs, restaurants and hotels in southern Africa, Europe, South America and Asia.
Bidvest said last week it was preparing to make a $515m offer for shares it does not already own in local drugmaker Adcock Ingram in a new attempt to build a big presence in the pharmaceutical market.
READ: Bidvest offers to acquire Adcock Ingram
"While this offer will remove uncertainty around Bidvest’s intention to acquire the remaining Adcock ordinary shares, Adcock shareholders also benefit from a premium to the share trading level over recent months," Bidvest's founder and chief executive, Brian Joffe, said in a statement.
