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Trading statement in respect of the year ended 31 March 2015
ALEXANDER FORBES GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa
(Registration number: 2006/025226/06)
JSE Share Code: AFH
ISIN: ZAE000191516
(“Alexander Forbes” or “the Company” or “the group”)
TRADING STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015
In terms of paragraph 3.4 (b) of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited, companies are
required to publish a trading statement in the event that they are satisfied that a
reasonable degree of certainty exists that the earnings per share and headline earnings per
share results will differ from the previous corresponding reporting period by at least 20%.
On 31 March 2014 (the last day of the previous financial year), the group completed a
comprehensive capital restructure aimed at redeeming substantially all of the remaining debt
instruments and preference share instruments in the group’s funding structure and replacing
such outstanding amounts with ordinary equity. A single unsecured term loan was introduced.
The capital restructure was completed in preparation for the new regulatory requirements in
South Africa (Solvency Assessment and Management), including consolidated supervision The
results of the previous financial year were also significantly affected by the disposal of
the Guardrisk group of companies in March 2014 “Guardrisk disposal”.
As a result of the capital restructure, the profits attributable to the Guardrisk disposal,
the expenses related to the exit transaction by the Company’s previous controlling
shareholders and the listing of the group in the current financial year, the comparability of
the two financial years is substantially impacted. These impacts were disclosed in the pro-
forma financial effects on the income statement contained in the Company’s pre-listing
statement issued on 7 July 2014 and the interim results announcement released on the Stock
Exchange News Service (“SENS”) on 2 December 2014.
The group expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year ended 31 March 2015
(“current year”) to be between 160% and 170% higher (83 to 88 cents per share higher)
compared to the reported loss of 52 cents per share in the previous financial year. Earnings
per share (EPS) for the year ended 31 March 2015 is expected to be between 70% and 80% lower
(55 and 62 cents per share lower) when compared to the reported profit of 78 cps in the
previous financial year.
The profit from operations before non-trading and capital items more appropriately reflects
the improvement in the core trading results of the operating divisions of the group. The
improvement in core trading results is expected to be between 9% and 11%. This expected
result is more comparable year on year for continuing operations, but includes the additional
expenses accounted for, as a result of the new share based long term management incentive
plans introduced at the time of listing to replace the previous ownership based long term
incentive plan. The current year also includes further investment in the strategic growth
initiatives of the group.
The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed or
reported on by the group's external auditors. The financial results of Alexander Forbes for
the year ended 31 March 2015 will be released on SENS on 8 June 2015.
26 May 2015
Sandton
Sponsor
RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)
Date: 26/05/2015 08:22:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
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