Shares of mining services and engineering firm Murray and Roberts (M&R) jumped on Wednesday as it managed to keep its operating profit steady in its half-year to end-December, while it is making progress in dealing with a hefty debt pile.
Group revenue rose almost 12% to R6.6 billion to end December, but the company still reported a R95 million loss - from a loss of R2.5 billion previously - amid higher tax charges and interest of R75 million.
Despite this, the group's shares had jumped 16.5% in morning trade, though it is still down about 2% on a twelve-month basis.