Remgro reported strong interim earnings growth on Wednesday that saw it hike its interim dividend 80%.

• Remgro CEO Jannie Durand said the group’s strong interim results reflected the quality of its investee companies, which includes the likes of Heineken Beverages, Mediclinic and Rainbow Chicken.
• However, there was a decline in earnings contribution from food producer RCL Foods, driven by a weaker performance in its sugar business.
• The company’s intrinsic net asset value increased by 1.6% to R297.03.
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Shares in Remgro increased more than 4% on Wednesday after it raised its interim dividend by 80%, driven by strong contributions from its investments in Mediclinic, Heineken Beverages, and Rainbow Chicken.

Stellenbosch billionaire Johann Rupert is the chairperson of Remgro, and his family’s investment vehicle is the controlling shareholder.

The significantly heftier dividend of 173.2c (2024: 96c) comes as the company reported strong earnings, with headline earnings per share rising 38.5% to 931c in the six months ended December. Headline earnings rose nearly 39% to R5.17 billion.

The dividends Remgro received from its investee companies increased by about 34%.

The company’s intrinsic net asset value (INAV) increased 1.6% to R297.03 since the end of June 2025.

Shares in the company rose up to 4.2% to R189.61 in early morning trading as the market reacted positively to the results.

CEO Jannie Durand said in a statement that the results reflected the “resilience and quality” of its investee companies, as well as the “strong foundations created over the past several years” when Remgro simplified its portfolio.

Durand told an investor webcast that he was “extremely pleased” with a performance that showed “sustained strong earnings growth across our portfolio”. “Even more encouraging is that this earnings momentum has translated into strong cash generation at the centre, enabling us to return value to our shareholders with a significant uplift in our interim dividend.”

It was difficult at this stage to forecast the impact of these factors, given the speed of changes and the “resultant unpredictability”, said Durand.

The group said the strong earnings performance was supported by increased contributions from its investments, which reported “improved operational performances”.

This included a positive earnings contribution of R485 million from Mediclinic, R280 million from Rainbow Chicken, R264 million from fibre operator CIVH, and R166 million from Heineken Beverages.

There was also an increased contribution from TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (more than R330 million), mainly due to a once-off Transnet pipeline cost refund.

However, there was a R240 million decrease in the earnings contribution from Yum Yum and Selati Sugar owner RCL Foods, driven by a weaker performance from the sugar business.

Discount shrunk

Opportune Investments MD Chris Logan said Remgro had reported a “favourable” set of results, flagging the strong headline earnings per share growth and significant uptick in the interim dividend.

The discount at which the company trades on the JSE to its intrinsic net asset value also narrowed by 700 basis points to 38.9% from 45.9%, he said.

“The defining feature of the results is that Remgro’s more hands-on activist approach with under-earning or loss-making investments is yielding very positive results.”

Logan said this was reflected in the 54.9% increase in earnings to R1.36 billion at Mediclinic, Heineken delivering a R155 million profit, compared with a R11 million loss in the previous corresponding period, and Rainbow’s earnings effectively doubling to R535 million.

He said CIVH had also swung into a R123 million profit after reporting a R141 million loss in the same period last year.

Mediclinic restructure

Remgro also reported a very busy period in terms of merger and acquisition activity, saying that “most notably” it had reached an in-principle, non-binding agreement with the Mediterranean Shopping Company (MSC) to restructure their respective holdings in Mediclinic. In terms of this, Remgro would assume full ownership of Mediclinic’s Southern African operations, while MSC would take full ownership of the Swiss Hirslanden business. Both parties would continue to jointly hold their Middle Eastern and Spire Healthcare interests.

The CIVH/Vodacom transaction was also completed following a long regulatory process. In terms of this transaction, Vodacom acquired 30% acquisition of Maziv, which is majority-owned by CIVH.

Remgro also sold the last remaining interest in British American Tobacco, and disposed of a portion of its interest in FirstRand for R4.88 billion post the results period.