Building materials supplier Iliad’s 2013 decision to cull several lossmaking divisions, this week saw it posting an 80% increase in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 72.3c for the year ended December 31.
The company’s operating profit increased to R133-million for the 12 months, while net finance charges dropped 6% year-on-year to R9.1-million, enabling the company to declare a full-year dividend of 22c a share.
Comparable group revenue for the period increased by 2.2% to R4.36-billion, which the company said reflected the continued subdued trading environment and competitiveness of the industry.
“Despite very competitive conditions, we were able to achieve a 1.2% improvement in gross margins, mainly due to internal efficiencies,” he said.
Additionally, year-on-year expenses increased by “only” 0.8%, reflecting the impact of the 2013 portfolio adjustments and the focus on expense management to partially negate costs associated with investing in key strategic initiatives.
Beneke added that expanding the group’s footprint and enhancing customer satisfaction would remain a priority in the year ahead.
He said the group was observing a “gradual” improvement in building industry confidence levels and planned to leverage its newly integrated enterprise resource planning platform to facilitate various projects to improve its competitive position.
