Various options considered to address pension fund drain
TRANSNET HAS posted a net profit of R278-million for the financial year ended March 31, 1998, a marked improvement on the R170-million loss for the previous year.
Released last week, the results reflect an increase in Group turnover of 7% to R21,6 billion (1997: R20,1bn).
Operating profit increased 13% to R3,4bn (1997: R3bn) while net finance costs, at R1,3bn, were 14% higher than in the comparable period last year.
Our contribution to the Transnet pension fund (R1,4bn) continues to present a major challenge to sustainable growth and various options are being examined to resolve this issue, m.d. Saki Macozoma said.
Spoornet and Portnet recorded satisfactory results, while South African Airways nad PX, although still in the red, produced imporoved results. SAA reduced its loss from R323million in 1997 to R244 m in the review period.
PX recorded a loss of R322m, a substantial improvement on the previous year's R489m.
As part of a cost-cutting exercise, the flashy annual report format was scrapped in favour of a simple 8-page information leaflet.
