Owing to persistently low commodity and energy prices, which significantly impacted on its oil and gas platform, JSE-listed Murray & Roberts (M&R) expects to report a decline in operational earnings for the 2017 financial year.
The company on Wednesday said its earnings would further be impacted on by the net present value charge of R170-million associated with the voluntary rebuild programme agreement entered into by listed South African construction companies and government in October 2016.
As such, M&R expects to post a 65% to 75% decline in headline earnings, while its basic earnings are expected to fall by 63% to 74%.
However, the group remained positive, stating that the natural resource market sectors were cyclical and that the group would trade through this difficult period. “We are well positioned for the expected upturn in the commodity cycle in the medium-to-long term,” it said.