In a trading statement released on Aug. 11, the Johannesburg-listed drilling company Master Drilling said it could post a strong rebound in interim earnings as H1 2021.
Profits for H1 2021 performed better than in the six months ending June 2019, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company’s earnings per share (EPS) for the six months ending June 30 are expected to be between (South African cent) 94.70 cents ($0.064) and 100 cents ($0.068) per share.
Compared to the comparative period in the pre-COVID-19 era for the six months ending June 30, 2019, earnings stood between 23.5- and 30.4-percent higher than the EPS of 76.67 cents ($0.052) reported in 2019.Â
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for H1 2021 are also expected to be between 84.90 cents ($0.058) and 90.20 cents ($0.062) compared to the HEPS of 76.67 cents ($0.055) for the 2019 comparative period.
In 2019, HEPS were between 10.7 and 17.6 percent, far lower than the HEPS for the comparative period of 2021.
However, the company said its auditors had not reviewed the financial information on the trading statement. Nevertheless, the interim results are expected to be released on the Stock Exchange News Service on or about Aug. 31.
Master Drilling
Master Drilling is a subsidiary of Master Drilling Group Limited, an investment holding with two core operational sub-groups, including South Africa and international operations in Latin America, Africa and Europe.
It is a globally-driven drilling technology solutions company focused on delivering a fully mechanized range of services to the mining, infrastructure and energy industries.
Danie Coenraad Pretorius founded the company in 1986 in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the company’s CEO and executive director.
Pretorius is the company’s highest single majority shareholder with a 52.3-percent stake, which amounts to 79,142,465 shares.
