JOHANNESBURG Feb 23 (Reuters) – South African paper
maker Mondi reported a 49 percent rise in full-year
profit on Thursday, buoyed by recovering demand and said it
would hike its dividend.
Mondi, which is also listed in London, said
headline EPS totalled 69.9 euro cents in the year to
end-December, compared with 47 euro cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS is the key measure of profitability in South
Africa and strips out certain one-off and non-trading items.
Mondi, mainly involved in the manufacture of packaging
paper, said its underlying operating profit was up 36 percent to
622 million euros.
The global paper industry is slowly recovering for a slump
triggered by weak demand and overcapacity and exacerbated by the
economic crisis. Capacity reductions across the industry have
helped lift prices.
Mondi, with operations across 31 countries, has been
targeting fast-growing markets in eastern Europe and is seen as
a safer bet than some of its western European rivals which
battle with high-cost assets.
The company earlier this month offered $374 million to buy
out the remaining 34 percent in Polish unit Mondi Swiecie it
does not already own..
The company said that order books have improved in recent
weeks and prices have stabilised, meaning it expected some
recovery from price declines.
Continued…
