Murray & Roberts Holdings (JSE) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• MRL (Murray & Roberts Limited) was placed into business rescue on 22 November 2024 due to severe liquidity constraints and inability to refinance R409 million in debt or secure a working capital facility, leading to deconsolidation from the Group's results.

• The business rescue plan, approved on 8 April 2025, involves the sale of MRL's main assets to repay secured creditors, with no proceeds expected for shareholders.

• The Group's mining businesses outside MRL continue as going concerns, but their order books and valuations are negatively impacted by the business rescue process.

Financial highlights

• Loss before interest and tax from continuing operations was R646 million (FY2024 H1: R1 million), mainly due to guarantees called on OptiPower projects.

• Discontinued operations reported revenue of R4.6 billion (FY2024 H1: R6.7 billion) and a loss before interest and tax of R960 million (FY2024 H1: profit of R63 million), driven by losses in OptiPower.

• Attributable loss after tax was R1,385 million, partially offset by a R251 million profit on deconsolidation of MRL.

• Diluted headline loss per share rose to 414 cents (FY2024 H1: 26 cents).

• Total comprehensive loss for the period was R2,204 million.

Outlook and guidance

• The mining businesses are expected to report earnings growth over the near to medium term, supported by global demand for minerals and metals required for energy transition.

• Negative market sentiment from the business rescue is impacting the ability to secure new projects, especially in the Americas and APAC regions.