JSE-listed beverage, food and nonperishable packaging manufacturer Nampak’s basic earnings a share rose 3% to 228.3c for the year ended September 30, from 221.7c the year before.

The company also reported an increase in group revenue and trading profit of 13%, to R17.2-billion, and 10%, to R1.82-billion, respectively, while profit for the year was up 2%.

However, Nampak reported that its headline earnings a share from continuing operations declined by 6.2% to 208.2c, from 221.9c in 2014, owing to some operational challenges and uncontrollable foreign exchange issues in key markets, including its glass operations, which had a difficult start to the 2015 financial year, characterised by “disappointing” operational performance as a result of the late commissioning of the third glass furnace, which coincided with the seasonal peak period.

This led to operating losses of R27-million and finance costs of R71-million.

Following a number of interventions, the issues were fundamentally resolved during the year, with the new furnace stabilised and production ramped up during the year.

CEO André de Ruyter said in a conference call on Thursday that the company had now “turned a corner” in its glass operations, noting that the first few months of the 2016 financial year had already been profitable. “We are confident that glass has turned around and will deliver profits to the bottom line.”

He added that spoilage concerns at its Bevcan aluminium beverage can lines in Springs continued to improve and would not have a material impact on Nampak’s earnings in the 2016 financial year.

The company was able to defend its strong market positions across all substrates with the successful conclusion of long-term sales agreements in its Bevcan, DivFood and Glass divisions.

Both revenue and trading profit from the rest of Africa rose 43%, boosting group trading profit from continuing operations by 10%, owing to continued strong performances from Bevcan Nigeria, Bevcan Angola and the inclusion of Zimbabwean entities previously accounted for as associates.

“Nampak’s operations in the rest of Africa are profitable and continue to perform well, delivering a trading margin of 15.7% after adjusting for forex losses. We reported a R141-million foreign exchange loss as a result of liquidity constraints in Angola and Nigeria.

“This reflects the difficulty of repatriating cash from these countries; however, the tap is not entirely closed. We are working very closely with the authorities and have been able to repatriate on average $6-million a month from Angola and Nigeria.”

During the year under review, Nampak spent R2.2-billion in capital expenditure, replacing superannuated equipment with new and technologically advanced equipment that would contribute to sustainability in future.

“Good progress was made in pursuit of greenfield glass furnace growth opportunities in Ethiopia and Nigeria,” he said.

“Management remains focused on delivering improved performance and unlocking operating leverage from our recent capital investments. Prudent capital allocation, further cost reductions and operational improvement initiatives are expected to benefit the bottom line during the 2016 financial year,” said De Ruyter.

He pointed to a good ramp-up in production at the group’s beverage can businesses, in particular Bevcan Nigeria and Bevcan Angola. Operations in the rest of Africa now contributed 49% to group trading profit, up from 37% in 2014.

De Ruyter was confident that earnings growth was back on track for 2016. “We have cleared the decks for a much-improved performance. We have incurred restructuring charges of R224-million, which included retrenchment costs, as well as one-off charges related to writing off redundant assets.”