HCI TAKES HIT FROM MINERAL EXPLORATION

Empowerment conglomerate Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), which is headed by Johnny Copelyn, warned on Wednesday that headline earnings per share (HEPS) could fall by a fifth in its six months to end-September due to a writedown of its oil and gas exploration assets.

Basic earnings per share should decrease by between 48.9% and 23.9% from the period’s 536.1c. HEPS should fall by between 17.2% and 22.2% from the prior 518.2c.

The company also saw equity-accounted losses from recent investments in the palladium prospecting and renewable energy sectors, it said.

At the AGM in September, Copelyn said R1.3bn had already been invested in its 49%-owned Impact Oil and Gas. A further $30m will be invested over the next year, bringing HCI’s total investment to R1.75bn.

The UK firm is exploring for oil in Gabon.

HCI also has a 19% stake in Toronto-listed Platinum Group Metals, according to its 2019 integrated annual report. The company is prospecting a palladium and platinum resource in the Waterberg area.

HCI’s share price was down 2.19% to R93.40 as of 11.30am on Wednesday.

With Mark Hassenfuss
Source: Business Day – K.Gernetsky with M Hassenfuss