Nampak More Than Doubles Profit From Africa

Group trading profit increased by 16% to almost R1.8 billion, with improved results from most operations. The trading margin improved to 10.2%.

23 Nov 2012 --- Nampak released its results for the year ended 30 September 2012.

Trading profit from the rest of Africa increased by 159% following good contributions from Angola and
Zambia. Group trading profit increased by 16% to almost R1.8 billion, with improved results from most
operations. The trading margin improved to 10.2%.

The higher trading profit and a reduction in abnormal items contributed to the 20% increase in operating profit.

Headline earnings per share from continuing operations increased by 16.5% and the dividend has been
increased by 20% to a record 129.5 cents per share.

Group revenue increased by 12% to R17.6 billion whilst revenue from the rest of Africa increased by 55% to over R2 billion with a full year’s contribution from the beverage can operation in Angola.
CEO Andrew Marshall said, “The increased trading profit from the rest of Africa is pleasing and is evidence that our strategy is delivering the expected results. We have identified a number of exciting opportunities that will contribute to our growing presence on the African continent and we are on track to generate at least 35% of our total revenue from the rest of Africa by 2015.

For the first time in many years there was good growth in beverage cans in South Africa and we invested in additional capacity to manufacture a new range of cans. We have also embarked on a project to convert beverage cans from tinplate to aluminium in South Africa.

Demand for food cans was mixed with fish and fruit higher but vegetables lower. The corrugated business improved further with the paper mill contributing significantly to the better performance.
The Cartons & Labels and Flexibles businesses were affected by weakening consumer demand in the
second half of the year. Although there was some growth in sales of toilet tissue, fierce price competition across the range of products resulted in lower profits.

The plastic milk bottle business in the United Kingdom had an excellent year despite very challenging
market conditions. The group trading margin and investment returns continued to improve with return on equity increasing to just over 20%.

The strategy of investing in our core businesses in South Africa and growing our operations in the rest of Africa is expected to enable us to improve performance in 2013 and beyond,” Andrew Marshall concluded.