Howden Africa interim earnings up to 162.46c

Howden Africa‚ which designs‚ manufactures and markets air and gas handling solutions‚ said operating profit (earnings before interest and tax) of R145.8m reflected a significant improvement over the R111m to June last year‚ with the company attributing the improvement to increased sales volume‚ improvements in project execution and the its focus on continuous improvement.

"Howden Africa has benefited from significant improvements in performance within the fans and heat exchangers division‚ where we have generated strong sales and operating profit in power generation and mining‚" the group said. "The environmental control division is experiencing record tender activity and has remained profitable."

Revenue of R691.3m for the first half of 2013 is 6.8% ahead of the R647,1m earned in equivalent period in 2012.

The performance of the fans and heat exchangers division was particularly strong‚ with a 24.3% increase in revenue. The environmental control division saw a 48.8% drop in revenue to R79m as it experienced a decline in orders last year, which affected revenue during the first half of this year.

However, Howden said orders received in the first half of the year were worth R708.1m or 19.1% ahead of the corresponding period last year.

"There has been good order intake experienced by the group‚ especially for mine ventilation‚ power generation and petrochemical service and spares work in South Africa."

The group has declared an interim dividend of 30c per share.