Afrimat shares jump as first-half profit climbs 60.5%

Afrimat shares jumped as much as 12% in intraday trade on Thursday after the building materials and mining company reported a 60.5% rise in first-half profits, saying the momentum will carry into the second half of the financial year.

Led by CEO Andries van Heerden, Afrimat is one of a few small-cap stocks that has endeared itself to investors over the past decade, having managed to grow its earnings consistently over that time.

Van Heerden, who is widely respected as the consummate deal maker, has overseen the transformation of the company from being largely a provider of construction materials into mining, which accounted for the majority of its profits in the six months to end-August.

Afrimat has recently bulked up its mining interests, issuing shares worth about R111m in 2020 to take control of Nkomati, with one of the largest nickel reserves in SA, while in September it said it completed the R300m acquisition of Coza Mining, a transaction that included the iron ore Jenkins mine.