Dear Shareholder
The Board has pleasure in reporting on the activities and financial results for the year under review.
The Group’s interests consist mainly of investments in tobacco products, banking and financial services, printing and packaging, motor components, glass products, medical services, mining, petroleum products, food, wine and spirits and various other trade mark products.
RESULTS |
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| Year ended 31 March: | 2008 | 2007 |
| Headline earnings – Excluding non-recurring portion of BEE costs (R million) | 8 028 | 6 892 |
| – per share (cents) | 1 700.7 | 1 453.6 |
| – diluted (cents) | 1 656.8 | 1 409.2 |
| Headline earnings (R million) | 7 991 | 6 892 |
| – per share (cents) | 1 692.8 | 1 453.6 |
| – diluted (cents) | 1 649.0 | 1 409.2 |
| Earnings – net profit for the year (R million) | 9 893 | 6 942 |
| – per share (cents) | 2 095.7 | 1 464.2 |
| – diluted (cents) | 2 048.9 | 1 418.5 |
| Dividends (R million)* | 2 471 | 2 102 |
| – ordinary – per share (cents) | 510.00 | 434.00 |
| * A final dividend of 330 cents (2007: 281 cents) per share was declared after the year-end and was therefore not provided for in the annual financial statements. No STC is payable on these dividends. |
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An alternative offer, consisting of a cash consideration of R16.00 per Rainbow share or 8.1 Remgro ordinary shares for every 100 shares held in Rainbow, or a combination thereof, became effective on 6 June 2007.
In terms of the abovementioned offer, Remgro acquired 30 236 876 Rainbow shares. Of this number of shares 27 749 336 were acquired for a cash consideration of R16.00 per Rainbow share for a total amount of R448.6 million, while 2 487 540 Rainbow shares were acquired through the issue of 201 399 Remgro shares, issued at an average price of R186.10 per Remgro share.
During the year under review Remgro acquired 10 699 024 Rainbow shares in the open market at R16.00 per share for a total amount of R171.9 million. On 31 March 2008, Remgro’s effective interest in Rainbow was 74.0% (31 March 2007: 61.4%).
Broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) initiative
On 18 March 2008 Rainbow shareholders approved a proposal to introduce a strategic BEE shareholding into the company.
Rainbow will issue 51 177 217 Rainbow shares (the BEE shares) at R17.89 per share to a BEE consortium (BEECo). BEECo
will be owned by the BE partners and the shares issued to BEECo will represent 15% of the entire issued share capital of
Rainbow.
The BEE shares will be issued during June 2008, after the payment of the final dividend to existing Rainbow shareholders. For accounting purposes the effective date of the transaction is 18 March 2008, i.e. the date on which Rainbow shareholders approved the transaction. The purchase price of the BEE shares will be settled by BEECo by issuing redeemable preference shares in BEECo to Rainbow.
For accounting purposes the terms of the issue of the BEE shares and funding thereof are deemed to constitute an option in
Rainbow shares granted to BEECo, and accordingly the issue of the BEE shares and the subscription by Rainbow of the BEECo
preference shares, are not recognised for accounting purposes. The BEE transaction will accordingly not affect Remgro’s
effective shareholding in Rainbow until the redemption of the BEE preference shares, referred to above, takes place.
With effect from 31 July 2007 Remgro acquired a 24.5% interest, on a fully diluted basis, in PGSI for R719.5 million, including transaction costs. PGSI is the foreign holding company of the Plate Glass group. For the year ended 31 March 2008 PGSI, which has a December year-end, has been equity accounted for the five months to December 2007. In future PGSI will be equity accounted for the twelve-month period ending December each year.
The second phase of Tsb Sugar’s land reform transactions is currently in progress and consists of the remaining claimed land, situated mainly in the Malelane area. This phase will comprise the sale of 3 162 ha under sugarcane and 71 ha under litchis, all of which is irrigated, as well as 2 599 ha that is not under irrigation. This transaction is expected to be completed early in the next financial year.
Resource Energy BV (RE)
During the year under review Tsb Sugar, Compagnie Industriali Riunite of Italy and VenFin Limited, established RE . Tsb
Sugar acquired a 25% interest in RE for a total amount of R8.6 million, with additional investments to be made on a projectby-project basis.
RE is involved in renewable energy through the acquisition, development and integration of biofuel production facilities, with
its initial focus on the production of ethanol from sugarcane.
Globally, Unilever simplified its organisational structure which, inter alia, entailed the merging of the SA Foods and SA HPC
businesses into a single leadership and operating framework under the “One Unilever” programme.
During October 2007 Remgro and Unilever agreed that Remgro would divest from its 41% interest in UBR in exchange for a 25.75% interest in the total South African Unilever business, consisting of the combined SA Foods and SA HPC businesses. An after-tax capital gain of R1 167 million was realised on this transaction.
Effective 26 October 2007 Medi-Clinic finalised the acquisition of Hirslanden Finanz AG (Hirslanden) for an amount of
CHF2 556 million. Hirslanden is the holding company of the largest private hospital group in Switzerland. Medi-Clinic
financed the purchase consideration through interest-bearing debt as well as a rights offer amounting to R4 500 million.
In terms of the rights offer Medi-Clinic issued
198 675 497 shares at an issue price of R22.65 per share. Remgro followed
its rights in terms of the rights offer and took up
86 217 868 Medi-Clinic shares amounting to R1 952.8 million. On
31 March 2008 Remgro’s effective interest in Medi-Clinic was 45.9%
(31 March 2007: 47.6%).
In terms of a separate agreement with Remgro, RMBH agreed to acquire the 27 008 590 Discovery shares received by Remgro
pursuant to the unbundling described above, by issuing 21 302 886 RMBH shares at R33.94 per share for a total amount of
R723 million. Remgro realised an after-tax capital gain of R403 million on this transaction.
During the year under review, Remgro also acquired 30 000 RMBH shares in the open market at R33.49 per share for a total
amount of R1.0 million. Following these transactions, Remgro’s interest in RMBH is 25.0% (31 March 2007: 23.7%).
For the year under review, Xiocom was equity accounted for the eight months to 31 March 2008.
The Remgro Share Trust purchased 150 566 Remgro ordinary shares during the year under review at an average price of R189.19 for a total amount of R28.5 million, while 126 383 shares were delivered to participants against payment of the purchase price.
| Local | Offshore | Total | |
| R million | R million | R million | |
| Per consolidated balance sheet | 1 280 | 2 654 | 3 934 |
| Less: Cash of other operating subsidiaries | (661) | – | (661) |
| Cash at the centre | 619 | 2 654 | 3 273 |
| Attributable share of R&R’s cash | – | 2 433 | 2 433 |
| Available cash | 619 | 5 087 | 5 706 |
On 31 March 2008, £309 million (R4 953 million) of the available offshore cash was invested in United Kingdom
Treasury Bills.
The final ordinary dividend per share has been increased by 17.4% to 330 cents. Total ordinary dividends per share in respect
of the financial year to 31 March 2008 have therefore increased by 17.5% from 434 cents to 510 cents.
| 2008 | 2007 | |
| (Based on total issued shares at time of payment) | R million | R million |
| Ordinary | ||
| – Interim | 872 | 741 |
| – Final | 1 599 | 1 361 |
| Total | 2 471 | 2 102 |
With effect from 1 April 2007 the Group changed its accounting policy for the accounting treatment of jointly controlled ventures from proportionate consolidation to the equity method, as it only has an interest in the outcome generated by the activities of these ventures and not any rights to the individual assets or contractual obligations for expenses or financing of these entities. The change in accounting policy will thus result in more appropriate presentation of investments in joint ventures. This change in accounting policy had no effect on Remgro’s net asset value, earnings or headline earnings for the comparative year. Certain line items in the comparative balance sheet and income statement have been restated accordingly. The effect thereof was immaterial.
Restatement of comparative balance sheet as a result of abovementioned prior year adjustment:| 31 March 2007 | |
| R million | |
| Decrease in property, plant and equipment | (1) |
| Increase in investments in joint ventures | 8 |
| Decrease in loans granted | (3) |
| Decrease in current assets | (6) |
| Decrease in current liabilities | 2 |
On 26 November 2007 Remgro published its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2007. Attention was
drawn to the fact that at that stage certain associated companies were not in a position to provide Remgro with the necessary
information in order to restate its headline earnings for the comparative periods. This related to associated companies that
implemented Circular 08/07 in later financial periods, for example FirstRand Limited and RMB Holdings Limited in respect
of their interim reporting to 31 December 2007.
The JSE granted Remgro exemption from complying with Circular 08/07 in respect of listed associated companies
that had not yet published their restated headline earnings prior to Remgro releasing its interim results for the six months
ended 30 September 2007. The results of those companies included in Remgro’s interim report for the six months ended
30 September 2007 were based on their results prepared in terms of Circular 07/02.
The companies mentioned above have subsequently announced their restated results in terms of Circular 08/07 and
Remgro has consequently restated its reported results for the six months ended 30 September 2006 and 30 September 2007
respectively, as well as for the year ended 31 March 2007.
| Year ended |
Six months ended |
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| 31 March |
30 September |
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| 2007 | 2007 | 2006 | |
| R million | R million | R million | |
| Income statement | |||
| Headline earnings as previously reported | 6 853 | 4 016 | 3 232 |
| Restatement of comparative figures in respect | |||
| of associated companies | 39 | 15 | -13 |
| Restated headline earnings | 6 892 | 4 031 | 3 219 |
| Headline earnings per share as previously reported (cents) | 1 445.4 | 851 | 678.1 |
| Restated headline earnings per share (cents) | 1 453.6 | 854.2 | 675.3 |
Attention is drawn to the fact that the results for the six months ended 30 September 2007 and 2006 are unaudited.
For the year under review Business Partners was thus accounted for according to the equity method, while only dividend income was previously accounted for. Certain income statement items are therefore not directly comparable with those of the prior year.
2008 |
2007 |
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| R per | R per | |||
| R million | share | R million | share | |
| Equity employed | ||||
| Attributable to equity holders | 57 227 | 121.11 | 45 672 | 96.69 |
| Employment of equity | ||||
| Tobacco interests | 21 891 | 46.33 | 20 124 | 42.6 |
| Financial services | 10 559 | 22.34 | 8 593 | 18.19 |
| Industrial interests | 15 182 | 32.14 | 9 546 | 20.21 |
| Mining interests | 7 619 | 16.12 | 5 677 | 12.02 |
| Corporate finance and other interests | 1 976 | 4.18 | 1 732 | 3.67 |
| 57 227 | 121.11 | 45 672 | 96.69 | |
| 2008 | 2007 | |||
| R million | % | R million | % | |
| Source of headline earnings | ||||
| Tobacco interests | 3 579 | 45 | 2 964 | 43 |
| Financial services | 2 120 | 26 | 1 568 | 23 |
| Industrial interests | 1 895 | 24 | 1 924 | 28 |
| Mining interests | 264 | 3 | 155 | 2 |
| Corporate finance and other interests | 133 | 2 | 281 | 4 |
| 7 991 | 100 | 6 892 | 100 |
| 2008 | 2007 | |
| R million | R million | |
| Composition of headline earnings | ||
| Subsidiary companies | 910 | 888 |
| Profits | 933 | 900 |
| Losses | (23) | (12) |
| Associated companies and joint ventures | 7 081 | 6 004 |
| Profits | 7 148 | 6 004 |
| Losses | (67) | – |
| 7 991 | 6 892 | |
| 2008 | 2007 | |
| R million | R million | |
| The Company’s own distributable reserves at the beginning of the year amounted to | 2 353 | 2 779 |
| Net profit for the year | 2 135 | 3 356 |
| Dividend No 14 of 281.00c per share paid in August 2007 (August 2006: 228.00c) | (1 361) | (1 104) |
| Special dividend of 400.00c per share paid in August 2006 | – | (1 937) |
| Dividend No 15 of 180.00c per share paid in January 2008 (January 2007: 153.00c) | (872) | (741) |
| The Company’s own distributable reserves carried forward to the following year amounted to | 2 255 | 2 353 |
| Number | |||
| of shares | |||
| Offer | Number | accepted as at | |
| price | of shares | 31 March | |
| Date | (Rand) | offered | 2008 |
| 20/06/2007 | 186.7 | 133 461 | 130 631 |
| 02/07/2007 | 187.5 | 278 | 278 |
| 01/08/2007 | 179.75 | 330 | 330 |
| 02/08/2007 | 176.85 | 13 856 | 13 856 |
| 14/08/2007 | 177 | 467 | 467 |
| 148 392 | 145 562 |
The current position of the Remgro Share Scheme is as follows:
| Average | ||
| offer price | Number | |
| (Rand) | of shares | |
| Ordinary shares due to participants | ||
| Previous financial year | 72.65 | 3 396 994 |
| Offered and accepted in current financial year | 185.69 | 145 562 |
| Shares paid for and delivered | 56.5 | (126 383) |
| Resignations and other | 117.7 | (4 250) |
| Total at 31 March 2008 | 78.01 | 3 411 923 |
Refer to note 24 to the annual financial statements for full details on the Remgro Share Scheme.
An analysis of the shareholders appears here.
Mr D M Falck retired as financial director on 18 June 2008. Mr L Crouse was appointed as financial director on 18 June 2008.
In terms of the provision of the Articles of Association, Messrs L Crouse, G D de Jager, J W Dreyer, F Robertson, T van Wyk, Dr E de la H Hertzog and Mrs J A Preller retire from the Board by rotation. These directors are eligible and offer themselves for re-election.
Mr J P Rupert is a director of Rembrandt Trust which owns all the issued unlisted B ordinary shares.
An analysis of directors’ interests in the issued capital of the Company appears here.
Special resolutions to grant this general authority are incorporated in the notice of the annual general meeting that appears on
here.
All cautionary and other announcements relating to the intended restructuring are available on Remgro’s website at www.remgro.com.
Shareholders may not dematerialise or rematerialise their holdings of ordinary shares between Monday, 11 August 2008, and
Friday, 15 August 2008, both days inclusive.
The annual financial statements have been approved by the Board.
Signed on behalf of the Board of Directors.
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| Johann Rupert | Thys Visser |
| Chairman | Chief Executive Officer |
| Stellenbosch | |
| 18 June 2008 |