JSE-listed African Oxygen (Afrox) expects to report double-digit gains in earnings for the year ended December 31, after reporting improved margins from operational efficiencies and a reduction in fixed costs post its restructuring programme the year before.
Earnings a share for the year under review are expected to be 39% to 49% higher, at between 186c and 199c apiece, compared with the 134c a share reported in the prior year.
The group also anticipates higher headline earnings a share of between 182c and 196c, a 31% to 41% rise on the 139c a share achieved during the year ended December 31, 2015.
Afrox, which will publish its full-year results on February 22, attributed the improved earnings to the completion of its restructuring programme undertaken in 2015 and the settled litigation with ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA).
In November, Afrox and AMSA reached an agreement over a dispute on an early termination of the supply contracts, with AMSA to settle R165-million in claims in a number of tranches.