Johannesburg - Brimstone Investments Corporation
[JSE:BRT] has reported a strong rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 166.1 cents for the six months ended June 2012, from 69.5c a year ago.
The company described the results as "excellent”‚ attributing the sharp rise in headline earnings to increase in value of marked-to-market assets as well as an increase in profitability from underlying operating businesses.
Brimstone’s subsidiaries include Sea Harvest‚ Lion of Africa and House of Monatic‚ among others‚ and it has investments in Life Healthcare‚ Nedbank‚ Old Mutual and Tiger Brands‚ among others.
Headline earnings increased by 140% to R474.8m‚ while basic headline earnings per share increased by 140% to 194.6 cents per share from 81.2c/share in the comparative period.
Net profit before tax increased substantially to R697.3m from R280.6m because of fair value gains and an increase in profits from associates and subsidiaries.
Profit for the period of R482.2m increased by 111%‚
Total assets increased from R4.6bn at end December 2011 to R5.2bn at the end of the reporting period‚ principally as a result of the increased value of assets and the acquisition of stakes in Afena Capital and Taste Holdings.
Net asset value increased from R2bn at December 2011 to R2.4bn at the end of the review period.
No interim dividend is declared.
Looking ahead‚ the group said it is well capitalised and has unutilised credit lines to pursue value enhancing transactions. Brimstone’s investment criteria of quality assets‚ strong cash flows and socially responsible policies remain unchanged.