Altron expects to swing to profit

Smaller losses from discontinued operations and gains in continued operations will help Altron report positive results for the first half of the year.

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Altron expects to report a swing from a loss to a profit when it publishes its interim results for the six months ended 31 August.

The JSE-listed company said in a trading statement it is expecting overall headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the financial half-year to be between 25c and 35c, compared to the loss of 64c per share reported in the previous corresponding period.

Basic earnings per share are expected to be between 3c and 9c in comparison to last year's loss of 151c.

In line with the previously communicated "strategy of refocusing the Altron group", the financial results for the half-year have been split between continuing and discontinued operations. This sees the entire Powertech group, Altech Autopage, Altech Multimedia and Altech Node being classified as discontinued operations for reporting purposes, with comparatives restated accordingly.

Altron says this disclosure provides shareholders with "insight into the performance of the core and non-core operations" within the group.

In terms of continuing operations, interim HEPS are expected to come in between 51c and 56c - which is between a 4% and 14% increase on the previous interim profit of 49c. Basic earnings per share are also expected to be between 82% and 100% higher.

In terms of discontinued operations, the HEPS for the half are expected to be a loss of between 18c and 28c, which is still a reduction of between 75% and 84% compared to the previous headline loss per share of 113c.

A basic loss per share of between 45c and 51c is also expected, an improvement of between 72% and 75% against the previous corresponding period's loss of 179c.

The prediction of a swing to profit sent Altron's stock soaring after the announcement late yesterday afternoon, with the share price closing 18% up at around R6.74 per share.

Earlier this year, the troubled technology group reported it lost over R1 billion in total revenue for the year ended 29 February. Revenue declined by 4% to R26.6 billion.

Altron, through its principal subsidiaries, invests in the telecommunications, multimedia, information technology and power electronic industries.

The group's half-year financial results are expected to be announced on or around 19 October.