Tongaat Hulett lifts earnings, output

Johannesburg - Tongaat Hulett [JSE:TON] reported a nearly 11% rise in full-year earnings on Monday, boosted by an increase in sugar output and prices and said it expected production to grow further in the next season.

The agri-processing company said diluted headline earnings per share for the year to end-March totalled 819.4 cents from 739.6c a year ago.

Tongaat Hulett has interests in land management and property development, but its main business is sugar production and milling.

The company, which has operations in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, said total sugar output rose 14% to 1.150 million tonnes.

It said sugar production was expected to increase by between 12% and 25% in the 2012/13 season.

Tongaat Hulett shares have gained 8% so far this year, compared with a 3% rise in Johannesburg’s All Share [JSE:J203] Index.

Tongaat shares rose 2.9% to R112.50 on Monday morning.