Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders came in at R6,8m, against R1,6m previously.

Cape Empowerment Trust CEO Shaun Rai said on Wednesday that the main reason behind the earnings growth was the group's property portfolio.

"We bought into it at a fairly good price and there has since been a revaluation of the property assets.

"And all of our other businesses have performed well," Rai said.

The group's biggest property asset is the Foretrust House in Cape Town.

Its net asset value grew 38% to 54,1c, which Rai said was a result of the share price generally trading well.

Three weeks ago, Cape Empowerment Trust released a positive trading update, which has boosted the group's share price 33% to date.

"We have been quite surprised by the way the share has performed," Rai said. "It seems the market is happy with our performance."

The trust said it was in negotiations with various major role players in the property industry to establish a black-controlled, listed, variable loan stock property company with an initial portfolio of at least R800m.

Rai said he could not comment any further, but a more detailed announcement would be made in the next three weeks.

Cape Empowerment Trust is a 63% shareholder in listed information technology stock Dynamic Cables, which on Wednesday also released its figures for the six months to June.

Headline earnings came in at R949,000, compared with R2,7m previously. Headline earnings a share fell to 1,4c from 5,9c.

Rai said the results were disappointing, but not unexpected. He said the first half for most telecoms companies was quiet.

Rai said the second half had been uncharacteristically busy. "We are not unduly concerned. Dynamic is set for growth, with Eskom and Transnet spending."

State-owned Eskom and Transnet have said they will spend billions of rand in the next five years on infrastructure.

Eskom has set aside R93bn, while Transnet is expected to spend about R37bn.

Cape Empowerment Trust has also declared a firm intention to make an offer for the issued ordinary shares in Sancino, which has a 13% stake in Grand Parade Investments. Grand Parade is an unlisted empowerment company with a significant minority stake in SunWest, the holding company of GrandWest Casino.

Business Day
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge