Millions knocked off Capricorn’s profit

Jo-Maré Duddy – Locally-listed Capricorn Group reported a profit of N$428.1 million for the six months ended 31 December, 23.2% or N$129.1 million less than the same six months in 2019.
The group – which include Bank Windhoek, Bank Gaborone and Entrepo – made an operating profit of nearly N$577 million, a year-on-year (y/y) drop of 23.4%.
Its impairment charges increased by nearly 187% y/y to N$155.6 million, while net-interest income fell by 6.8% y/y to N$1.01 billion.
Capricorn reported basic headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 76.5c, down 23% from the corresponding half-year in 2019. HEPS is regarded as a profitability gauge.
The group declared an interim dividend of 22c per ordinary share. The interim dividend per share for the period under review is 10% higher than the final dividend per share of 20c declared during September 2020.
“The group believes that the interim dividend balances prudency, in preserving the group’s capital and liquid asset position, with a fair dividend yield for shareholders, whose earnings came under severe pressure since the onslaught of the global pandemic and depressed economic conditions,” Capricorn said.
Capricorn is listed on the Local Index of the NSX. It closed Wednesday at N$10.12 per share. It ended last year at N$12.97 per share.
On Wednesday, Capricorn’s market capitalisation by total shares in issue was N$5.254 billion, making it the third biggest company on the Local Index after FirstRand Namibia (N$6.173 billion) and Namibia Breweries (N$6.404 billion).