African Bank one of our preferred stocks have put out a trading statement this morning. Let me do a copy and paste, something that even ex police chiefs are fond of.
"Shareholders are advised that headline earnings and headline earnings per share for the period are expected to increase by approximately 20% relative to the R914 million and 113,7 cents per share respectively reported for the first six months of the 2010 financial year. Earnings per shares are expected to increase by approximately 18%."
And that my friends is incredibly easy to work out. So headline earnings are expected to top 1.1 billion ZAR. And expect around 134 cents per share worth of earnings, traditionally this half to March is the better half. That would suggest that this half to March is roughly nine percent better than the prior half (the second half to September 2010). If the full year numbers increase by around 10 to 12 percent for the full year, then expect somewhere in the region of 270 cents worth of earnings for the year. And around 190 to 200 cents worth of dividends.
The share price is lower by nearly four percent today, which simply suggests that this trading update has disappointed the market. More than just a little. However, we continue to like the space and will continue to use the weakness to accumulate more.