By
Reuters
Published
May 23, 2010
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South Africa's HCI books 17 percent full-year profit rise

By
Reuters
Published
May 23, 2010

JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (Reuters) - South African conglomerate Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCIJ.J) booked a 17 percent rise in full-year earnings on Thursday 20 May, helped by growth in its media business and its stake in textile firm Seardel SRNJ.N.



HCI, which has a stake in South African broadcaster eTV, said headline earnings per share totalled 295.4 cents for the year to March 31, up from 254 cents in the previous year.

Revenue was 8.45 billion rand ($1.08 billion), a 14 percent increase from the previous year.

Headline EPS, which strip out some one-time and financial items, are the main measure of profit in South Africa.

The results were widely expected after HCI flagged the numbers in a trading statement this month.

The company, whose diverse operations include hotels, casinos and mining, said it was hit by one-time items related to its acquisition of a majority stake in Seardel Investment Corporation.

Earnings per share, which include financial items, fell nearly 46 percent.

Shares of HCI were down 0.8 percent at 1419 GMT following the results, outperforming a 3.3 percent drop in Johannesburg's All-share index . (Reporting by David Dolan)

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