(Alliance News) - Vivo Energy PLC on Tuesday brought back an interim dividend on the back of a strong recovery in its Lubricants division, with the Africa-focused fuel distributor saying that the rebound is expected to continue.
Vivo shares were down 2.4% at 103.22 pence each in London on Monday morning, and were up 0.1% at ZAR21.37 each in Johannesburg.
Vivo saw pretax earnings triple to USD126 million in the six months to June 30, outshining last year's USD42 million. Revenue rose 18% to USD3.99 billion from USD3.38 billion.
Vivo Energy sells branded products from Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Engen Petroleum on the African continent, with key markets including Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya. Vivo is dual-listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.
Volumes increased 8.4% to 5.01 billion litres from 4.62 billion litres.
Vivo said that the Lubricants segment was the star performer with volumes 14% ahead of both 2020 and 2019's volumes. The increase in volumes was mainly due to a rise in traffic at sites due to lighter Covid-19 restrictions together with active selling on the forecourts and consumer-focused promotions.
Vivo noted that its aviation division was lagging, however.
"Borders have, however, largely remained closed which has both affected our Aviation business and meant that countries with large tourism industries have seen a slower recovery in retail fuel demand," Vivo said.
Vivo brought back an interim dividend of 1.7 US cents per share, with the company noting that last year's interim dividend was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Looking ahead, Vivo said: "The group had a strong first half, and we enter the second half of 2021 from a position of strength. As expected, performance was led by the recovery in our Retail business as mobility restrictions eased across our markets, with margins also returning towards more normalised levels in the second quarter of 2021.
"We are navigating the uncertainty created by Covid-19, and subject to any major change in mobility restrictions, our expectations for the full year remain unchanged. As we move into the second half, we expect margins to complete their normalisation, with volumes continuing their steady recovery, led by the positive momentum in the Retail segment."
By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com
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