KAL Group reports strong recovery with 16.7% dividend increase

KAL Group, the South African agri, fuel and convenience speciality retailer listed on the JSE, reported a good recovery in the second half of the year to September 30 and this enabled it to declare a dividend that had been raised by 16.7%.

- EDWARD WEST

The dividend of 210 cents for the year was in line with the group's earlier commitment to investors made during the year. The share price notched up 2.05% to R46.75 on the JSE after the release of the results Thursday.

"At midyear, we spoke about the momentum building in our business and the uplift we expected in the second half and we have delivered exactly that. The recovery we anticipated has materialised, with a strong upswing across our operations supporting an exceptional full-year performance," said CEO Sean Walsh in a statement.

The turnaround was despite the challenging economic environment, which had remained tough despite interest rate reductions and lower inflation. Significant improvements in key financial indicators also boded well for the year ahead, he said.