Pretoria Portland Cement on Monday advised that its earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the six months ended 31 March 2009 are expected to be between 75% and 90% less compared with the respective amounts reported for the comparable period in 2008.

PPC attributed to the decrease mainly to an IFRS 2 charge, which is a consequence of its broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) transaction.

Earnings per share and headline earnings per share excluding the IFRS 2 charge relating to the BBBEE transaction do not differ by more than 20% from those of the previous corresponding period, according to PPC.

The group is expected to release its interim results for the period ended March 31 2009 on May 12 2009.

The information contained in the trading statement has not been reviewed or reported on by the company's external auditors.