(Reuters) – South Africa’s Exxaro Resources on Tuesday said it expects half-year profit to rise by as much as 32%, with higher coal prices and sales offsetting the impact of poor rail logistics.
Exxaro expects headline earnings per share – the main profit measure for South African companies – to be between 32.11 rand ($1.95) and 35.93 rand in the six months to June 30, compared with the 27.22 rand recorded during the same period last year.
The increase was despite a shortage of locomotives, poor maintenance and cable theft that have limited state-owned rail firm Transnet’s capacity to haul minerals such as coal and iron to ports, costing mining companies significant revenue.
The company expects to release half-year results on Aug. 18.
($1 = 16.4390 rand)
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by David Goodman)
