JSE-listed Mondi Group expected its underlying operating profit for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012, to be above that of the €135-million operating profit recorded in the third quarter of 2012, as well as the €132-million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2011.
However, the paper and packaging company warned that its underlying operating profit for the full 2012 year was expected to be below the €622-million achieved in 2011.
This followed an indication by the group in its interim management statement in October that the underlying operating profit for the first nine months of 2012 of €405-million was below that of the €490-million profit recorded in the comparable period of the year before.
In addition, the company advised in a trading statement on Monday that it expected basic earnings a share to be between €0.48 and €0.52, compared with basic earnings a share of €0.66 in 2011.
Basic headline earnings a share for 2012 would be between €0.61 and €0.65, compared with the basic headline earnings a share of €0.69 the year before.