Bidvest CEO, Mpumi Madisa, expects the diversified industrial group’s earnings to continue on their upward trajectory for the remainder of the year, following a strong performance for the six months that ended in December 2020.
Bidvest, whose operations span financial services, travel, hospitality and the automotive retailing sector, amongst others, reported a strong recovery in cashflow and profits for the first half of the year, with a 3.5% increase in trading profit to R4.1 billion off a pre-pandemic base.
In an update to the market, Bidvest said that demand was disparate across industries during the six months to December 2020. “There was good demand for hygiene and facility services, DIY products and bulk commodity services. The travel and hospitality sectors were hard hit and remain, largely, closed.”
Madisa told GIBS Interim Dean, Dr. Morris Mthombeni, during a Flash Forum that the group is “very comfortable that the underlying trade of our businesses will continue similarly in the second half of the year” and anticipates an uplift from the businesses that were hard hit. “Travel and hospitality are starting to pick up. We are very comfortable that underlying trading should be very similar to the first half, with some rebounds.”
