Telkom’s share price jumped by almost 6% on Thursday after the partially state-owned telecommunications group said it expects normalised headline earnings per share for the six months to 3 September 2016 to increase by as much as 30% compared to the same period a year ago.
It said headline EPS is likely to rise between 10% and 30% year on year, while basic EPS is expected to climb by between 0% and 20%.
The announcement sent Telkom’s shares soaring by 5,9% to R61,47 as of 2.58pm in trading on the JSE on Thursday afternoon.
The normalised basic and headline EPS numbers exclude the impact of voluntary early retirement and severance packages offered to employees, which affected earnings in the year-ago period to the tune of R1,5bn (with a tax benefit of R446m).
As a result, reported headline EPS is expected to increase by between 370% and 390% when compared to the previous corresponding period, Telkom said. The basic EPS number is expected to increase by between 205% and 225%.
“The improved performance [in normalised earnings] is due to our multi-year business transformation programme,” Telkom said in a statement issued on the JSE’s stock exchange news service.
The earnings include the performance of IT group Business Connexion, which has been incorporated for the full six months, compared to one month in the prior period, it added.
Telkom said it expects to publish its interim results on 15 November. — © 2016 NewsCentral Media