Cape Town - Phumelela Gaming & Leisure posted a 15% jump in headline earnings per share, supported by strong offshore results, currency gains and the growth of betting volumes.
The horse racing administrator and licensed totalisator operator and bookmaker recorded that profit before tax rose 17% to R130m. Profit before tax from international operations increased by 47%.
"We are very pleased to report headlines earnings per share up by 15%," CEO Rian du Plessis told Fin24 in a video interview.
Headline earnings per share increased by 15% to 132 cents for the year ended July 31 2014 from 114.5 cents in 2013.
Earnings per share increased by 29% to 146 cents from 113.6 cents previously.
The group declared a dividend of 60 cents. This brings the total dividend for the year up to 80 cents said Du Plessis.
"We did not increase the dividend this year because we are increasing our cover. We will look at increasing our dividend going forward".
Watch: Phumelela headline earnings tick up
Income from local operations increased by 7% to R967m.
South African horseracing and tote betting continued to be loss-making, but tote betting on sports other than horseracing was up 34%.
“Tote betting on sports other than horse racing increased by 34% and now exceeds tote betting on international horseracing,” said CEO Rian du Plessis.
The group is quite positive about the year ahead, with expansions on the horison.
"We will be growing our international business. A weak rand happens to also be good for us."
"Locally, we are looking to extend our retail footprint - organically in the first place and then to augment that with acquisitions," du Plessis said.
- Fin24