Tambankulu Estate sugar fields, which are part of Tongaat-Hulett, located in Swaziland. Picture:SUPPLIED
The group, whose market capitalisation is only about R1.8bn, says it is struggling to reduce its SA debt through earnings from that market, and needs to either accelerate disposals, raise capital or save additional cash. SA’s sugar operations generated an operating loss of R283m in the six months to end-September, more than double the previous period. The group reporting local sales remained subdued and that there had been aGroup revenue decreased by 1.5% to R8.085bn, while operating profit surged to R1.278bn from the previous period’s R315m. The latter was largely due to Zimbabwe, where hyperinflationary accounting has been put into effect.
Tongaat’s share price, which lost three-quarters of its value in 2019 before it was suspended in June, is expected to resume trading on Monday.