Good morning and welcome to Grindrod Limited's Annual Financial Results Presentation for Financial Year 2024. My name is Reshmee Soni from Investor Relations. Thank you for attending and dialing in. With us this morning on stage, we have Xolani Mbambo, CEO of Grindrod Limited, Fathima Ally, Financial Director. Xolani will open today's presentation with a performance summary. Fatima will follow with a detailed overview of the financials. Xolani will proceed to the strategic review and closing remarks. Before we get into the main agenda, please take a moment to peruse the forward-looking statement, you may read through this in your own time. Thank you, I now hand over to Xolani.
I'm wearing glasses now. I can say it's because of rail or logistics, when I joined Grindrod as an accountant, sitting in the office, I wasn't wearing glasses. Maybe it's just age. I hope my look doesn't upset you. Before I move to the formalities, those who attended our interims will recall that I had an opening statement talking about the 13 locomotives that we had relocated from Sierra Leone. I think it was 13 of those. It was in August. Little did we know that you fast-forward to December, the network statement, middle of December, I think I was on holiday, the network statement came out. What a nice coincidence. While we were getting excited, we actually realized that we had to submit on the 7th of February.
Technically, the two weeks of December I wasn't there, sometimes some people don't come in early January. They come second week in January. We had that amount of time to prepare our submissions with overall five slots that were allocated in the network statement. I think it was a slot per corridor. Fast-forward, the five slots became everything in the market, the excitement started in a true sense. Of course, some of us don't have locos necessarily. For those who do, started getting excited. The submission, of course, was extended to end of February. The reality is that Grindrod is a Train Operating Company, TOC. Those who are familiar with the discussions around network statements, there is TRIM, there's IREK, there's all sorts of references. What I can assure you is that we are a TOC.
We are a training operating company. We are operating the loadout facilities in the Northern Cape on manganese. We also, in conjunction with Eswatini, are operating train between Eswatini and Maputo. Up to May last year, we were doing some serious overhaul in Sierra Leone, moving seven million tonnes per annum. The capability is there. We've got workshops and we've got satellite workshops where we operate, we also have the main workshop in Pretoria. I'll touch a bit more later on when I talk about the program on the 13 locos. I thought I should just give a context with that opening statement. Most important thing is that there is a buzz in the market around rail. There does seem to be some meaningful progress. Of course, all TOCs have submitted. The true test is what happens going forward.
If we go to the performance summary. As normal, I will give context to the economic environment in which we deliver these results. It's very important because it gives context. You'll see that strategically we've picked up the countries that impact our operations one way or another. I skipped Europe, but I guess in the global context, it also talks to that. As you know, China is a key importer of mineral resources. The economic growth was around 4.8% in 2024 against 5.2% that was recorded in 2023. The exciting times of China sitting at 9%, 10% are gone, but they still remain a force in terms of the imports of mining minerals. The government is forecasting about 5% growth currently this year. Some of you will recall that last year China came out reviving the economic activity through some stimulus package.
I'm sure you'll recall of that. Unfortunately, that did not yield much desired outcome. There was an excitement, but it was short-lived. We are fully aware of what's happening with tariffs. It's a buzzword these days. There's some geopolitics as well, risks associated with that. Who knows what impact that will create on the commodities. It's something that we're watching very closely, and particularly on the tariff war in terms of how China responds to the U.S.'s implementation of the tariff against China. If you look at India is becoming a growth region. Their growth last year was 7%, slightly less than 8.2% in 2023. That's underpinned by consumption growth in country. They continue to be key importers as well of mining minerals, particularly coal, as well as the others.
It's a good growth story, and it's an area to watch very carefully in terms of our business. If I now bring it closer to home, Mozambique, the growth rate was 4.3%, certainly better than our growth rate in South Africa. Again, that is slightly down from the 5% growth that they recorded in 2023. If you recall, if I'm not mistaken, that growth was the highest or strongest since 2015. Mozambique growth story has been a good one. We're fully aware of what happened in the last quarter of 2024, where there were riots and therefore the key for the new government that's been installed is to restore confidence in the economy, confidence in the business environment, and particularly confidence in the financial sector or financial markets.
As you know, once you start struggling with the strikes, your financial markets become tight, your foreign currency starts running out, the knock-on effect of that, if it's not controlled, can be problematic. We are confident that the new government is doing its best to make sure that they restore the confidence in the country. Some of you may be aware that he was in the country to meet the CEOs of the companies that are invested in Mozambique, his mission was to assure us that he'll do his utmost best to bring confidence back in the system, he's very supportive. At home in South Africa, our growth rate remains tepid. The economy only grew 1.1% and is expected to grow by 1.6% to pick a number. The positive signs, at least at home, is the reforms that we see.
We firmly believe that the government currently in place is doing its utmost best to restore the logistics network in South Africa, which as we know is the backbone of the economy. Without the logistics network functioning, we would struggle to get the economy going. There are some challenges, of course, we believe that the investor confidence, if we focus on it, will return, and the business opportunities that come with that will hopefully pick up the country. In South Africa in general, the economic growth is sitting at around 3.3%. That's the context under which we operate at a macro level. If you go specifically to the commodities, this is a familiar slide. If you see a bar on the chart on the right, it's good, on the left it's not so good. You can see there's too many bars on the left.
Some of them are actually almost a meter. No, just joking. What this chart reflects really is the challenge around the down cycling that most of the commodities that are part of our portfolio of commodities that we handle are struggling at the moment. What is important for us, therefore, is to focus on cost reductions, efficiencies, ensuring that as the commodity prices drop, we are able to create that headroom for our customers as they export their volumes. Only three cargos remain resilient. As you can see, it's copper and it's chrome, and you'll see particularly chrome because we handle, through our Port of Maputo, a sizable amount of chrome. You can see the positive effect of that directly in their results, which feed into our results as well that Fathima will be talking about. The other one that's been resilient is the manganese.
That's the context. Challenging macroeconomics and also the depressed commodity prices. With that context, how has Grindrod performed? Starting on safety, if you look at the highlights, and you'll get more detail from Fathima on the numbers, and I'm sure she will sit with you one-on-one in the few days to come to give you more color in terms of how the numbers relate to the underlying performance. Starting on safety working culture, we drive strong safety working culture. No one coming to Grindrod must go home injured, and everyone that comes to Grindrod must go back to their family. I'm quite pleased that our LTIFR, which is a key measure of our safety progress, has improved from 0.48 last year or 2023, to 0.33 in 2024. This is a significant improvement.
This followed a fatality that we had, we had to respond with a comprehensive safety campaign that we called Bassopa, which in Portuguese is Bassopa [Non-English content], I'm told. If you look at the dry bulk terminal that is operated by the Port of Maputo, the volume grew 14% as a record volume to over 14 million tonnes. It's an excellent growth story. You'll see a separate chart when I talk to that. Our terminal overall in Durban, in Richards Bay, Walvis Bay, as well as Maputo and Matola, overall volume were soft at 16.7 million tonnes, down 5% comparatively.
That is despite the volume and uptick that came out of Richards Bay. You'd have seen on the back of the slides, there's a detailed volume table that will outline where the growth came from, as well as in Durban. On the back of the ZAR 2 billion EBITDA that we generated in 2024, the ZAR 1 billion headline earnings per share, as well as the cash generated of ZAR 784 million that we generated from our operations, the board approved a final dividend of ZAR 0.17 per share. This brought the total dividend for the full year to ZAR 0.40. This is in line with the guidance we've been giving over the past few cycles, even though we've been preaching it on the upside, that we will be returning to the guidance of between 3x and 4x dividend cover at core headline earnings level.
We're doing that purely because of the outlook that we see going forward, which I'll take you on in closing slides in terms of our growth projections and the outlook for where we want to take Grindrod going forward. We did announce that previously. If you zoom onto each segment, this is my favorite chart, only when it goes up. It doesn't become much of a favorite slide when it changes. The port volumes which are coming out of the terminal operation that is run by the Port of Maputo, you can see a nice growth story, 23% compounded annual growth rate from 7.7 million tonnes to 14.3 million tonnes, almost doubling. This is a phenomenal story, and it's a reflection of the investments in the port over the years.
I was astounded looking at the stats the other day when I was engaging the Government of Mozambique, that since the inception of the main concession, we've actually invested $600 million. It sounds staggering. I had to double-check the numbers. Of course, there are commitments going forward to further invest in this facility. For me, the exciting part about Maputo Port is the confidence that it has brought to the customers, particularly the chrome customers. They really are getting a first-class service from that facilities. Some of you have been there and will actually attest to how the facilities look compared to what it was, I would say, before 2015. If we come to what we operate, which is the total volume, we were soft at 16.7 million tonnes, as I've alluded earlier. The capacity across all our terminals is around 17.2 million tonnes.
The reason I'm flagging this is, you can actually see that on that chart, we've actually hit the ceiling. Between the two facilities, some are down, some are up, some are actually over capacity. Broadly, if you cut across all our facilities, we've hit a ceiling. What does that tell us? That tells us that we need to unlock growth going forward. If we do nothing, I'm going to be showing you the same slide every year and the growth of only inflation. Therefore, it was imperative for us in the past 18 months to build a credible portfolio of opportunities, some of which were assisted by the network of the liberalization of logistics network in South Africa. I'll touch a bit on that later on.
This is very critical because without doing any of this, there won't be a growth story, and my shareholders won't be coming to hear me talk with the next set of results. If you look at the logistics, the overall performance in logistics was impacted by the low throughput in containers, in container volume, as I think I have indicated before that if you see our container depot inland, by and large, and some are in coastal areas. If you see that facility full of containers, you should worry. The only time you don't worry is if it's full of containers, but containers are moving. If containers aren't moving, then we aren't generating an income. Typically, when a container gets into a facility, you earn money for bringing it in, handling it out of that flat deck onto a staging area.
You make money if it needs some repair work, you make money when it goes out. If it stays for a month, all you get is roughly ZAR 5-ZAR 7 per container, and that can't even cover your rental for your facility. It's quite imperative for us to create a scenario where we find ourselves in control of driving the throughput. What drives the throughput? The throughput is driven by efficiencies on the key side, because containers come in by way of import, they go out by way of export through sea freight. That's why for us, it's very important that the project of the container facility in Richards Bay kicks off in earnest as quickly as possible.
It's also important for us that DCT functions and is able to return to its glory days so that the throughput that is required can be achieved. Sierra Leone locomotives refurbishment program is progressing well. I'm pleased with that. In fact, of the 13 locomotives, we've broken down the project into three phases. Phase 1 project is four locomotives, and those locomotives are now out of the workshop. They'll be part of the set of locomotives that we deploy in the network in response to the network statement. If I'm looking at my rail guys, I'm hoping that we, in fact not hoping, we are ready. The next batch of six locomotives will complete by end of Q2. I'm pressing them. They keep saying Q3. The balance of locomotives, which require extensive overhaul, will take about seven months to come through.
For those who will recall our strategy around how we respond to network statement, we said as Grindrod, we will not go and buy new locomotives at ZAR 4.2 million a piece and new wagons at over ZAR 100,000 a piece if there is no certainty on the network statement. I think my excuse is now running thin, as such, we've then come up with how we're going to implement our rail strategy in response to the network statement. We've said that we will use our existing fleet, yes, I accept that our existing fleet is not as efficient as your new AC loco. What it does, it allows us to put our foot on the door, we have done so by responding to the network statement.
What we will then do is we will test, given the number of slots that we will secure, we will test whether the theoretical model that we have got on paper, because none of us, other than Transnet, have ever run on Transnet rail network. The reality is actually when you run your train and you test whether what you have got on paper aligns with the reality. If the reality tells us that we are good, then phase 2 means we probably try and deploy all 90% that we have existing, and out of that, we then place an order. I have been told an amount of locomotives that are required, but I will save that for the other day. It is a big sum of money that we will have to inject. We are hoping that the two and a half years of waiting time will be worth a wait.
What I would not have liked is to order locomotives now, then two and a half years later, I take delivery, and all we do is we celebrate the arrival, but no density on the line. The reality is that unfortunately, those locomotives, because they are relatively heavier, in terms of the load per axle, you cannot run them in Zimbabwe, you cannot run them in Zambia. In fact, the only place where you can potentially run them is on the Ressano Garcia line. In fact, you cannot even run them on Eswatini other than from the border to Richards Bay if you go through Eswatini. So there is a limited alternative application. Your strategy should be foolproof if you are going to embark on the acquisition of the rolling stock.
Finally, on logistics, the negotiations on our Richards Bay container facility have concluded, and we have agreed on most key terms with Transnet. We wait. I am really hoping that we will be in a position to inform the market of the positive story. But I do not want to preempt any of that. I will leave it to our colleagues in Transnet to continue with the process. But we remain upbeat on that facility. I will now hand over to Fathima to take you through the numbers, after which I will then talk to the way forward and strategic execution. Thank you.
Thank you, Xolani. Good morning to everybody from my side. I think Xolani has quite adequately articulated the challenges we have had to overcome in FY 2024. The macroeconomics, together with the soft commodity prices that prevailed, and in light of that, how our core business has delivered what we believe to be quite a resilient performance. If we look at the income statement, just to point out that this income statement and the numbers have been prepared on a proportionate consolidation basis, which means on a line-by-line level, our percentage shareholding from joint ventures are effectively included in there. Our core business delivered revenue of ZAR 7.4 billion, as well as an EBITDA margin of 27%. That EBITDA margin holding quite on par with what it was that we communicated at the end of H1 2024.
In early last week, we issued our trading statement where we also communicated to the market what the impact has been on our numbers and our results for the financial year in light of the post-election conflict that prevailed in Mozambique, which of course, as you can appreciate, is quite a significant operating jurisdiction for us as Grindrod. I think if we were able to handle the cargoes that we communicated at nearly 4.4 million tonnes, we would have ended up with a margin uplift of 2%, so effectively looking at 29%, and we actually would have seen a 5% improvement on our revenue line year-on-year. Our depreciation and amortization charge in the income statement has come off. It's come off 6% from the prior year. This is largely attributable to certain of our right of use assets that effectively reached the end of their lease periods.
You'll see that our interest charge has grown. Debt that we've taken on in FY 2023 took the effect of full servicing in this financial year and averaged around ZAR 600 million, together with new debt entered into this financial year of approximately ZAR 500,000,000 . Our share of associates very healthy growth at 42%, very closely correlated to the 14% growth in volumes for the Maputo Port on the earlier slide that Xolani would have talked to. Our core business effective tax rate sits at 35%, slightly above what the statutory tax rate is in Mozambique at 32%, and that's attributed largely to certain non-deductible expenditures that prevailed in the businesses. Overall, our core business closed at ZAR 1,006,000,000 of earnings and ZAR 1,004,000,000 of headline earnings, 26% down on the previous period. Of course, in cents, that trickles down to reflect at ZAR 1.504.
Again, the impact of Mozambique would have resulted in approximately a 3% uplift, making that ZAR 1.80 in total for our core business. If we spend a few minutes on non-core, big jump in revenue, approximately ZAR 4 billion, largely, in fact, all of it attributed to the marine fuel business. Of course, with the volatility in the oil prices, that really articulated and resonated in overall earnings from that business of ZAR 33 million in this financial year. Then, of course, our private equity and property segment coming to the fore with losses of nearly ZAR 725 million. These losses, you would have seen our SENS issued last year, where we've entered into a transaction with African Bank to dispose of our loans and advances for certain North Coast properties in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
That facilitated write-downs that we've had to put through on that portfolio of close to ZAR 524 million. On the remaining private equity asset, which is essentially the MTN Zakhele shares that we own, we booked write-downs of approximately ZAR 32 million, and linked to the North Coast properties, what we also have done in this financial year is increased provisioning on warranties applying to specific ring-fence loans when we initially disposed of Grindrod Bank in financial year 2022. Again, this largely coming out of the fact that these loans have grown in exposure through interest build-up. The fair values on collateral that's held have obviously reduced this year in light of the transaction that's taken place. Then what we've also done in this financial year is we've extended the warranty period from three years to five years with African Bank.
Overall, this financial year for Grindrod closing at earnings of $314 million and headline earnings of $312 million. If we spend some time looking at the key segments, our port and terminals business, you'll see that our revenue and our EBITDA have come off, and overall headline earnings down 11%. With the impact of Mozambique and our overall volumes in Mozambique itself being 14% down, you can appreciate that that has quite a significant impact on the headline earnings that we produce, looking at the fact that we've got 86% concentration in US dollar businesses in this segment. Pleasing to note that that has come off by 5% because of the improved volumes and cargoes that we've been able to handle in South Africa, predominantly in Richards Bay, and the strategy that the team is unfolding in that region.
Again, taking into account cargoes we would have handled for the segment, our EBITDA margins would have uplifted to 41% and of course, headline earnings would have spearheaded in excess of ZAR 1 billion for this year. Nevertheless, closing the year at a strong 22% return on equity is still a very, very important business segment for us at Grindrod. Our logistics business, as Xolani mentioned, did come into a couple of challenges. He's talked about the impact of the container business, as well as what our strategy is in terms of how we lift and change that. Our ships agencies business really doing well, coming through at 10% growth on headline earnings from the prior year. We did have some hiccups as well in our East Africa business. We have quite a lot of business concentrated with the movement of graphite in northern Mozambique at the Balama mine.
As you are aware, that mine has been out of operation for most of FY 2024, and what that has meant for Grindrod is that the dedicated fleet upon which we earn a fixed fee, that fleet reduced by approximately 29% in May of FY 2024, effectively halving what our East Africa business returned in headline earnings. Our rail business as well, with the return of the Sierra Leone locos and that contract ending in May, we did see headline earnings contract by approximately 30%. As you know, the locomotives are in a refurbishment program, and haven't been fully deployed. These are specifically the 13 locomotives that were repatriated.
I think overall, if we had to look at the revenue as well as the EBITDA margins, one key aspect is that despite the growth in revenue of 21% with our integrated logistics solutions that we've been able to effect to certain key customers, a key part of that is transport brokering that happens, and that brokering happens at considerably low margins. If you ignore the effect of what the transport brokering means on the segment, you get to a normalized level of EBITDA margins for the logistics segment at 27%. I think all of the factors we've talked about earlier have really impacted on the return on equity that the logistics segment has delivered in the current financial year.
If we spend some time on the balance sheet, Xolani takes every opportunity to tell anyone he talks to that we are not an asset-light business, and we most certainly are not. A fixed asset base of close to ZAR 7 billion and significant capital allocation going into both stay in business and expansionary CapEx. This year, that check amounted to ZAR 788 million, of which 62% of that spend was expansionary in nature, focused specifically in the logistics segment on rolling stock capability build-up, as well as securing key operating facilities for our container business, both in Durban as well as our container park in Johannesburg. ZAR 3.2 billion of cash and money market funds on balance sheet. Of course, that includes ring-fenced funds of ZAR 1.1 billion.
That cash is effectively currently sitting in Mauritius, waiting to be spent on our acquisition of the remaining 35% of Matola, and we waiting anxiously for that transaction to become effective. Closing the year on total assets for the group and the core business on ZAR 16 billion and overall at ZAR 18 billion. In terms of our net debt, 26% increase in our net debt position. We started the year at ZAR 1.2 billion, with close to ZAR 800 million cash generation from our operations, and having spent quite a big chunk of that on our interest and dividends, as well as taxation in the current financial year. We were able to spend in cash up to ZAR 546 million on the capital expenditure that I talked to earlier. We did get some cash coming in.
There were certain sites and properties that we were able to dispose of in the current financial year, not strategic to the operations of our core business. If you recall, a couple of years ago, we disposed of an investment real estate asset business in the private equity portfolio. It was the SAIA business. We sat with deferred proceeds that still needed to be collected. We got some cash coming through in this financial year, and ZAR 63 million of the ZAR 124 million you see on the slide came out of deferred proceeds we were able to collect. Then, of course, we saw uplift in debt through entering into installment sale agreements, as well as modifications on leases, which effectively constitute non-cash movements in our net debt numbers. What does the ZAR 1.5 billion comprise?
Effectively, debt of ZAR 2.9 billion and operational cash of ZAR 1.4 billion, effectively leaving us with a net debt to equity position of 16% and fairly sizable debt capacity off of Grindrod's balance sheet. We've run the numbers. Of course, internally, we measure it on a more conservative level with respect to how our funders look at us from a net debt to EBITDA. At this point in time, we're looking at capacity of between ZAR 2.5 billion-ZAR 3.5 billion off of Grindrod's balance sheet. We certainly have plans on how we will spend that, which Xolani will talk to.
She's covered the numbers. I'm just going to talk about the progress. The first one is the land in the North Coast. You are aware of the transaction, as Fathima has indicated, ZAR 500,000,000. I was really hoping that by the time I come here, I'd be saying it's in the bank and we're in the process of putting it into our rail business. There is one CP that's remaining. We've managed to resolve it. I can comfortably say so. I have no reason to believe that the ZAR 500,000,000 won't come. I think if it doesn't come, I'll have a problem with the auditors because they've used that as a basis for cleaning out the, as I would call it, fair value losses, down to what they say is a reference point for the value of the underlying recoverable.
The second one is Cockett. We have received a dividend on Cockett. We haven't received a dividend in years. We're able to engage and secured $8 million of dividends at 100%. $4 million of that came to us in December last year. That assists us in making sure that the carrying value of that investment, which is accounted for on a single line in the balance sheet, does not get away from us. Strategically going forward, we are engaging with our core shareholders on the next step on this asset. At some stage, I'm hoping we'll be able to come to the market to advise where we are in those conversations. That covers the non-core. I thought I'd spend a bit of time taking you through our strategy execution. I always say it's easier to write a strategy on paper.
You get your wheel, get your strategic pillars, you done, board signs off, and you get your incentive, you go home. The key thing is, are you delivering on what you've put forward as your strategy? I wanted to just share a bit with you in terms of what we discussed with the board in November last year. The reason I'm flagging it is so that there's an appreciation of why long-term outlook for Grindrod remains solid. While we deal with the short term, which we'll continue to do because of the impact of volatility in the underlying commodities, the excitement about Grindrod is its growth trajectory and the pipeline of projects that we have. We are a purpose-driven company. I'm not going to bore you with that. It's very fundamental to what we do, and it's what brings our employees together and drive a single culture.
You will all appreciate that without any of that, we'd be unable to deliver on what we should be in the short term and, most importantly, long term. We are very clear about our strategy. We develop a cost-effective, efficient, integrated logistics solution for our customers. We understand what's our customers' problems. We go and design them, we implement. Cargo doesn't move on a corridor that is inefficient or on a corridor that is expensive. It just doesn't do that. That's why you'll find the corridors like Lobito, which are very long, popping up. That's because there's a constraint elsewhere, and it makes what wouldn't ordinarily be a good corridor, a good corridor. Our job then is to make sure that we find the shortest and cost-effective solution.
What we then do differently to any competitor or peers in the market is that because we've got long-term strategic assets, we are able to actually backward integrate and give a customer a single solution. That's what we do. Of course, everyone says that who is in the logistics space. The difference is that we are not 4PL, because 4PL will come to Grindrod and say, "I've got a customer, and I want to move cargo. Can I use your assets?" They'll say, "Bring the customer." The customer ends up signing with Grindrod. That's how we operate. We're comfortable with that strategy. We've got full support on it. These are the strategic pillars underpinning how we deliver on that strategy, it all starts with the customer.
Everything that we do starts with the customer, the second one is people, the third one is market differentiation or operational excellence, as well as revenue growth. Of course, we do this for shareholders, and the rest of the stakeholders, of course. What has been happening is, we've been focusing because the view that we took to board was that we will not, unless it's absolutely an obvious opportunity, we will not come and ask for money until we have proven that existing assets are optimized. Some of you who have been following Grindrod will know that, for instance, if you pick up an asset like TCM, we spent a key offset project back in 2016. We took that capacity from around 4 million tonnes to 7.3 million tonnes. For many, many years, we never reached that 7.3 million tonnes.
We said, well, of the strategic pillars that we have here, we're going to focus on 4. In addition to what the team are doing on 2, on 1, 2, and 3, we're going to focus on 4, which is drive the utilization of existing infrastructure before you leap onto a new investment. That is the license that we are looking for in order to be able to drive growth going forward. We did that, and that's why you can see the chart that I showed you earlier. That brought confidence in what we do and confidence from the board that when we ask for the money, we know what to do with the money. With that, of course, now we have to change and think differently while the team continue to drive operational excellence.
The focus is now shifting on revenue growth, which is strategic pillar number 5, and market differentiation. What we mean by that is that we will continue to look for assets that are strategic in nature and that differentiate us from any other logistics player similar to ours, if you can find one in the market, with a view to grow our revenue base going forward and actually scale Grindrod. That's the message that we took to board last year. We said, the way you're going to do it is we're going to focus on four key areas. Very clear. Four key areas. That's why when I still talk about private equity, I get a little bit of discomfort because these are the only areas that when you look at Grindrod, you should be thinking about is bulk.
We're going to be in bulk, there is no issue around bulk, and that's our focal area. Within bulk, we're looking at mining minerals. We're going to be in mining minerals. We're looking at agri. We look at break bulk, and we're looking at liquid. Some of you who've been with Grindrod, we do liquid, but not transportation of liquid, the tanks. That's what you're looking for. That opportunity came about because there is a potential for, in fact, we may be a little bit behind the curve, but I think we still have a space to play. Bulk is our business. That's where we're focusing on. Then on the logistics is our capability. If you're going to have the assets, you need the capability.
Not just on the land site in terms of the cargo movement, but also on the sea site in terms of ships agency, clearing and forwarding, et cetera. Container is critical and is core to us. We all know the importation of commodities, household commodities coming into South Africa, and also the citrus season come and go. Agri is hungry for a solution that will enable them to evacuate reliably those boxes overseas. Then rail. The key about rail is that it enables us to actually do that integration element that is so desired in our solutions. If I use a practical example, last year, we achieved 31 million tonnes directly and indirectly through MPDC. I've said this before, 60% of that runs on road, and that is unsustainable. There is a captive market for Grindrod to actually deploy locomotives.
What I'm hearing in the market is that everyone is excited about this corridor, and everyone wants to be the corridor. The question I get, "Well, if they come to the corridor, what then?" I said, "Well, that's fine. If they come to the corridor, it means that the corridor is actually an attractive one." It is attractive if you think about it. We are not a single commodity corridor similar to OREX or to the coal line. We are a multi-product corridor, which creates an element of diversification if you buy your rolling stock. We've got chrome out of Steelport, we've got coal out of Witbank coal fields, and we've got magnetite out of Palabora. It can't get better than that. Most importantly, the distance to destination in Maputo and Matola, which is run by a privately owned terminal operator, is shorter than elsewhere.
I won't say where. That ordinarily then makes that corridor extremely attractive. It's not a surprise to us that a few people are looking to participate in the slots availability. Of course, it's got an element of challenge in it, in that a slot in South Africa must be matched by a slot on the Mozambique side. We've got relationship with CFM. We are core shareholders in MPDC. There is no reason that we won't be able to work collaboratively to make sure that that slot is not undermined by not being matched on the other side. We're sitting with a confirmation of support from CFM in that regard. We feel comfortable on the rail business that the entry point for us is clear.
If you're not getting into that entry and someone wins it, we are going to be getting volumes into our facilities that are delivering on the EBITDA margin of between 35%-40%, or 30%-35% before you quote me. That's where we're focusing on as a business. If you hear any of our members talking something different, then you know that they're not delivering on our strategy and the focus is not on core. I thought I should highlight that in our trading statement, we referred to ZAR 8 billion worth of the investment opportunities that we've built up in the past 18 months. Some of them already in the market. I thought I'd touch a bit on that.
The first one is, of course, buy-up of Matola, and I'm sure I'm going to get a question at the end around concentration in Maputo, given the recent events. I'm going to say my response is concentration in SA. We've had some interesting developments ourselves as a country. Those are the risks that will continue to exist as a business is how we respond to them and how do we adjust our capital allocation in response to that until we get a level of comfort so desired to be able to continue to invest. This project is an obvious one, ZAR 1.4 billion buying up. What is beautiful about this project is that we're buying into something we know. We've delivered those earnings. When we talk about EBITDA margins of 35%, we've tested them not once, not twice, multiple times.
It gives us a level of comfort around the risk of deploying that ZAR 1.4 billion. Of course, we have to manage the microeconomic risk around the country itself, and we believe that can be managed at this stage. What it also does, it allows us full control, and that full control means the backward integration becomes a reality, whether it's through rail or through transport brokering. When you sell a solution to a customer into Matola, you sell a single solution. That for me is very powerful. Of course, we're hoping to conclude first half of this year. Fingers crossed. There's only one CP remaining. It's Competition Commission in Mozambique. With that, it unlocks the ability for us to actually upgrade the plant. I'm very emphatic on that because that plant needs upgrade.
If you want to continue to benefit the 9 million tonnes, the plant has aged. The major overhaul, in fact, it was a replacement, was this ship loader you see. It's a powerful ship loader. It can do 2,500 tonnes per hour. We want to match it with another ship loader that does 2,500 tonnes per hour. Combined, 5,000 tonnes or average four and a half, depending on loading of the vessel. That means you then are in a position to load a parcel size within 24 hours. That's what you want to be able to do, and make it attractive because the quicker you can turn around, the cheaper it is for the customer. The beauty with this project, again, is that you're buying into something we understand. What you then said is we've got two options.
Go for CapEx and replace like for like and deliver 9 million tonnes. I think it would be a missed opportunity if we don't bring modernized equipment that can give us incremental volume with only a marginal increase in CapEx. That's an option we took. We took an option of saying, for an incremental CapEx or beyond just like for like, let's do an overhaul and secure ourselves additional 3 million tonnes. It opens up the facility for us to be able to handle additional volumes. We know the EBITDA numbers. We know the rates. We run the facility. If we are fortunate enough, we will be on rail to feed it, which means we can package a well-priced solution for a customer to be able to sustain this going forward. You will recall that we'll be doing this until 2058.
Rail is an exciting one, which was my opening statement. We do have 41 locomotives, three shunters, 88 wagons. Sitting at a loan NAV in our books of carrying value, but the fair value of that or market value or replacement value is ZAR 1.6 billion. That's an asset base that we currently have, and that's why we can comfortably say we are a TOC. We're looking at CapEx of ZAR 1.2 billion initially. Included in that number is the sort of working capital in terms of upgrading the facility, but also the buying up in phase 2 of the rolling stock. As I've said earlier, we split our project into short and medium, or phase 1 and phase 2, depending how you call it, in order to cautiously get into this rail space without risking ourselves.
We've set ourselves a participation criteria, which talks to the efficiencies of the corridor. That's why we select a corridor that we know we can drive efficiency. The customer commitment. If you're moving into Maputo, whether it's chrome or magnetite, as Grindrod, you already have the contract commitment in terms of the port, and it's a matter of extending that on the rail. Understanding of the corridor, we know what we know, and impact on the overall returns. That is very critical. The returns need to be balanced in this scenario because you've got your own facility on the other side, and you've got a link on rail, and you've got a customer on one side.
Of course, if I'm coming in and all my interest is in this corridor, I'll maximize my returns, and it may result in volumes actually not coming through because the logistics solution has become expensive. If I run the rail myself or ourselves as Grindrod, with all the various participation in the value chain, we are able to price that correctly and look at whether the value chain for us is still creating the returns that we desire. The ability to control is the wrong word. The ability to participate in the corridor allows us to take a view on the value creation for Grindrod in the entire corridor value chain. This, again, is a brownfield. Also this one, in terms of spending, it is within our ability to understand where the markets are in terms of the CapEx.
We can choose the phasing and spend it as needed. I have talked about container facility in Richards Bay, ZAR 500,000,000, broken down into two phases. First one is normal upgrade of the facility itself, and we want to bring a mobile harbor crane so that we can become a forceful operator in the long run. The balance, I am not specific enough on them. ZAR 3.5 billion. Those are multiple projects in varying stages. There is one particular project that we are working on here that will excite everyone when it comes out in the market. I am not allowed to say. I have been told to wait until such time that it is at a level where we can go out in the market. It constitutes largely of share acquisition in other businesses.
We are very excited if we can pull this off because it will change our balance sheet. The obvious question coming out of this is how are we going to fund this? You say you have got ZAR 8 billion of pipeline, but your market cap currently is just over ZAR 8 billion. This is hectic. Fathima has indicated the capacity that is available. We will not be looking for any other funding until we can prove to our investors that we have deployed to the maximum possible the debt that is currently allowed by our balance sheet. That would be first and foremost. Depending, going forward, on whether the projects we bring in are able to bring an EBITDA earlier, will then create an unlock. If I give you an example, the 35% buyup of Matola at ZAR 267 million EBITDA for that buyup, you can unlock.
If you use two times, you can unlock ZAR 600 million of debt. With that, it is how we are going to run that iterative process until we understand what the gap looks like at the end, and then how we fill that gap. The good thing is that as we buy these things, you will be able to test us whether the deployment of that capital is actually delivering. The first one will be a buy-up. If you buyup and then you achieve 9 million tonnes, you bank that ZAR 267 million, no doubt about it. If you do not, then you are going to say, "Well, until you make that happen, I am not interested in anything else." There will be that ability for us to prove that the allocation is actually delivering. That would be the funding part of it.
In closing, whilst the short term is expected to be bumpy, it will be bumpy. If you look at the iron ore price, if you look at the results of some of the biggest iron ore exporters or the biggest iron ore exporter, you will realize their realized iron ore price has been dropping. That is an indication of the stress in the commodity markets. We are hoping that the sentiment over time will improve, especially at a macro level, because that is what affects the underlying commodity prices. We are in this game for long term, and therefore, while we expected it to be bumpy, we are very excited about the medium and long-term growth prospects for Grindrod. It remains exciting. In closing, Grindrod is a platform for South Africa's logistic constraints to be unlocked. We are available to be used to unlock logistics constraint in South Africa.
Why do we think we fit the bill? Grindrod is a reputable brand. It has proven itself to deliver. We are probably the only logistics company in South Africa that moves directly and indirectly 31 million tonnes per annum. Our presence on the container depot facilities, whether through JV and/or directly, is in all key provinces. Whether it is Johannesburg on the inland, we have got the biggest, I would argue, other than Kaserne, which is run by Transnet. We have got the biggest container depot facility in Johannesburg. If you drive on the M2, do yourself a favor and have a look at what we have done there. We have got the biggest representation, I would argue, countrywide in terms of what you can bring for the shipping lines. It is difficult to replace or to replicate things like that.
We are truly a platform, and most of our facilities are rail-linked as well, which is quite critical if you want to deliver a cost-effective solution. We have got capacity. We are a platform. We can be used to drive a reform of logistics network in South Africa. Thank you.
Thank you, Xolani and Fathima. We will now commence the Q&A session. We can perhaps start with questions from the floor. We will then proceed to chorus call and online questions. If I could please ask you to state your name, your company, followed by your question. Are there any questions on the floor? Nope. Thank you. If I may ask, are there any questions on chorus call?
Thank you. We have no questions from the lines.
Thank you. If we can proceed to questions online. Xolani, Fathima, there are a few questions. I will do them perhaps in two or three questions at a time. The first one we have from Rowan. Can you please expand on the rail opportunities in South Africa? Second one, Irma Venter from Creamer Media. Just to fully understand the reason any new locos would not be able to run outside South Africa.
Is that because of the Cape Gauge railway line in South Africa?
Which is?
Irma Venter, Creamer Media.
Yeah.
Just to fully understand the reason any new locos wouldn't be able to run outside South Africa. Believe it's a comment around weight.
Thank you. The first question I thought I did expand on rail opportunities. I might risk repeating myself. The network statement is out, and when it went out in December, it came with a slot per corridor, and it was later revised, and the revision said all corridors are available in the market. That's the extent of an opportunity. If I give you a practical example, we need about 50 trains a week into TCM. Minimum 50. If we can get 50 trains a week, we're in the game. We can handle between 800 and 850 wagons per day. Of course, if they flow nicely and there's no bunching. Bunching is when for a block of four hours, you get nothing. There must be a constant flow every four hours. We can handle between 800 and 850 wagons. What are we averaging now? We're averaging 300 wagons.
There is scope. I'm just putting an example. If there is a slot that can help us drive that continuous flow into our terminal, without doing anything, we can uplift the rail volume flowing into our facility. You will hear that, in some other corridors, I'm not going to talk about them because I think I expanded the potential opportunity there. It's a multi-product, multi-user corridor. It's a shorter corridor. If you want a slot, you apply, and if you qualify, you will get. There are other corridors like your manganese into the Eastern Cape. There's a participation there if one so desires to be in that corridor. There is also a conversation around concessioning some or to an extent, certain portion or entire lines of those rail corridors. I'm sure those conversations are out there in the market, and you can hear about them.
We'd have had some conversations happening in that front. There are various formations that have come through in the market in order to be able to respond to these opportunities. That's how much I can sort of say the opportunities or slots are in the market. If you've got trains, apply and hopefully get a slot. The why new locos cannot operate outside the country. Let me use a practical example. Our EMD locos, we need three sets to pull 50 wagons of coal train set, three sets of locomotives. Of course, that's expensive because you've got three locomotives pulling 50, which is a shorter train. But if you've got the bigger locomotive, which is heavier, you probably would need one or two of those. They are heavier, which means the infrastructure must be able to carry that weight.
Unfortunately, if you look at the infrastructure, as much as we say South African infrastructure is dilapidated, comparatively speaking, there are more challenges outside the country than there are inside the country. If you take that train, you won't be able to move it on those lines, because those lines, most of them, they have to run less than 20 tonne per axle. I think if you look at Zambia, it must be on 18 tonne per axle. You're stretching it if you're getting to 20 tonne. If you look at DRC, it needs to be even lighter. If you buy a locomotive in South Africa to run an overhaul operation in South Africa, that locomotive will be heavy if you want to run it elsewhere.
As I said earlier, the only lines where you can run is a connecting line that goes through Eswatini into Richards Bay and Ressano Garcia Corridor, which by the way, was upgraded, is now a dual line that can do up to 24 million tonnes capacity on the other side.
Thank you. We have two questions from Visio Fund Management. The first question, the ZAR 1.4 billion acquisition of the remaining shareholding in Matola, what is the implied EV/EBITDA or multiple of NAV? The second question, from the investment opportunities you mentioned, what is the expected uplift to core earnings in the medium term?
I should be giving you that.
Do you want me to go for it?
Yeah. You can go for it.
I think on the first question, [Reshmee], on Matola, it is very difficult to look at an EV/EBITDA multiple because TCM is not a business that holds significant debt. I think probably more relevant would be to give you some visibility on the multiple of NAV. At the end of December 2024, TCM closed at a NAV of approximately $125 million. If you take 35% of that, and if you take our purchase price, including interest uplift, assuming we close this month, you are looking at a multiple of just under two. In terms of NPAT, I think if you look at the current trajectory of TCM, if you look at the earnings 2023 and earnings in 2024, again, with very different volume outlooks and achievements in each year, you are looking at uplift of anywhere between $120 million and $170 million. That is the Matola buy-up.
In terms of the opportunities that we have talked to, I think the rail opportunities, as Xolani mentioned, very tiered and staggered for us between a step 1, a step 2, and a step 3. That NPAT elevates with what it is that we see as we go into this phased process. Our projections at the moment and our modeling at the moment shows that with step 1 and step 2, we are looking to achieve NPAT of approximately ZAR 20 million, and with our step 3, that escalates up to ZAR 40 million. That is rail. I think the other opportunities are still quite green and quite new, and that we are still farming out to be able to give you a view.
On the CapEx that we want to enter into both front of port and back of port, I think the first thing to remember is that this CapEx project was necessary because first and foremost, it is a sustained business capital project. We have front loaders, we have ship loaders, we have equipment and conveyors on site that need replacement, maintenance, and upgrade. To maintain the current level of earnings, we need to execute, and we need to enter into this CapEx. With that, the type of machines that we are getting and the way in which we are modeling this means that we will likely elevate our volumes and our throughput from what Xolani talked about earlier, or the 9 million tonnes up to 12 million tonnes. I think from that perspective, we can use a pretty extrapolated approach.
One thing we will not do as Grindrod is we hold ourselves accountable to hurdle rates for our projects, and hurdle rates need to be committed between a 16%-18% range. That might give you some visibility on what we look at.
Thank you.
Am I on? Yeah. We typically don't give an outlook view on the numbers until we have to. As I've said, the brownfield on the buy-up is easy. You just take your actuals, you extrapolate 35% to get the number. In fact, you can even work out an EPRA number. I think we disclosed sufficient to be able to work it out. Similar to the 3 million tonnes, you just take your additional 3 million tonnes, you look at what we disclose, and you can easily actually work it out, what 3 million tonnes in TCM means. We've given you a range of EBITDA. You can just work it out that if we did 8.1 million tonnes in TCM and the EBITDA number is X, you probably can extrapolate it, because the terminals' EBITDA margins are not too far off.
The key contributor to those EBITDA margins is actually TCM, you should be able to work it out relatively quickly. We will, as time progresses on other projects, and closer to implementation, be in a position to share on various platforms, what those projects mean in terms of the impact on our earnings. We withheld that information on purpose until we're comfortable. What we have given in the slides, which I think will be published, is the indicative EBITDA margins that we are targeting. I'm hoping it can assist in trying to model the impact on what growth looks like for Grindrod going forward, because I understand that's what you're probably trying to achieve here.
Thank you, Fathima. Thank you, Xolani. Whilst we're on outlook, Xolani, we have two questions around the start of this year. The first one from Matthew Whitelaw, 36ONE: What have the volumes at Maputo and Matola been like in the first two months of the year? Kaho from Nitrogen Fund Managers: Could you speak to how performance has been in the core operating segments in the first few months in terms of price and volumes?
Can I not respond? We normally give a pre-close statement before the end of our interim, and we use that to give guidance in terms of how H1 looks like.
Thank you. Perhaps this draws onto the same theme. Wallace Barnes from Steyn Capital Management. What gives you confidence that the situation in Mozambique will be peacefully resolved?
We've operated in Mozambique since 2005, when we bought into the main concession, and then in 2010, we got a sub-concession. We've had changes in administration many times. If anything, it's been a vote of confidence in terms of what the government decided to do with that concession. Of course, this is the first time we experience this scenario. We are aware that the government is doing its utmost best to change the narrative around the social impact projects. The challenge that Mozambique faces is not too dissimilar to what is here back at home. You've got youth that is unemployed, that is disillusioned, and one needs to then make sure that as a government, we do something about that in order to avoid potential issues down the line. We believe that the government of Mozambique is now refocused in ensuring that they address those issues.
Of course, the risk is that if the impact is not made, we will have a problem. In the same way that we will have a problem back here at home. Just to digress a bit, of that ZAR 8 billion, just to give investors comfort, the balance in terms of capital allocation from geographic footprint perspective is 50/50 between SA and Mozambique. There is a recognition that we may need to create a balance. Of course, that comes with its own set of challenges in that you will now be getting rand-based earnings, not dollar-based earnings, which are naturally hedged because your costs are typically in local currencies.
The other thing, maybe just to add as a flavor, is the way we contract our position is such that we are by and large holding our reserves in hard currency, and that creates an immunity against shortfall, typically of the dollar currency in situations like this, which is very common in Africa. At a company level, we've commercially set ourselves up very comfortably to manage the risk of these issues, which is typically your cash can't come out. At a macro level, we're banking on the government to make strides in ensuring that there are projects that address the core issues.
Thank you, Xolani. The next one is from Sandile of Umthombo Wealth. I think we've answered the first one. The first question was: What will be the impact of the phase 1 locomotives on the bottom line? The second question is: I understand that there are a number of adjustments in your financial statements that come from the presence of non-core assets, and upon disposal, we are likely to see a much simplified financial reporting. What else are you doing to simplify the readability and complexity of the financial statements?
[Go on?].
Yeah.
I think, Sandile, Xolani's given a flavor of where we at with the non-core assets. I think if our transaction for the land is away in the next week, effectively from our perspective, that is the end of the private equity and property segment. There's nothing else of materiality in there that we can't absorb into our core business. Xolani's also given an update on Cockett, which is the second, but certainly material non-core asset that we have. As he indicated, discussions are underway with shareholders and when we are comfortable to share, then Grindrod certainly will with respect to progress on that front. I think the business of Grindrod, in the context of logistics and how our bulk, our containers, our rail, our road, our ships agencies, our clearing and forwarding
These are all uniquely complementary and can be stitched into an integrated service. Within themselves, they're also quite unique and quite distinct that have quite different balance sheet implications, recognition implications. Contracting as well with your customers drives significant principal and agency treatments. There's a whole lot of factors that we need to consider. I think where we are at Grindrod, with a new commercial executive underway, we've got a very streamlined basis in terms of how we are controlling contracting from the center. Hopefully, a lot of that will address some of the understandability of financial statements. I think the biggest variability and what makes it difficult to understand is certainly the noise and the volatility that comes with non-core.
As soon as we sort that out, I really do believe that the financial statements will be a lot more clearer and concise for users to be able to interpret and understand what our core business is able to deliver.
Maybe I'll add a bit. I think as it is now, I have a privilege that I was a CFO, when we had shipping, financial services, et cetera. For those who would sit here and listen to me, some of the conversations would be more IFRS. I remember when I was talking about pref shares. If you go back and you look at what we have now, I think we've gone a long way to actually simplify the business. Back in the day, there was a confusion. If you look at the Grindrod share price, some analysts and investors would actually track the shipping index, which meant that there was a complete disregard of bank. You can't blame them for that, because if you pick up a balance sheet back then, it just doesn't tell you anything about this business.
It was a holding entity with investment in what appeared to be different set of businesses. Of course, if you ask me, would I do it differently? I probably would still be having same segments, but making sure that they integrate. What you've got now, in my view, is actually much simpler. If you want to understand bulk business, you just follow volumes. If you want to understand what the movement in coal price will do to your numbers, you just need to understand your road transport costs, your mining costs, and then your FOB cost. That will tell you whether customers will switch off or not. It makes it that much easier now to, at least for the major part of the segment, which was what? Over ZAR 800 million of headline earnings relative to ZAR 1 billion.
If you look at the containers and if you understand the inflow and outflow of boxes, you should be able to start modeling that correctly. I accept that there's some work to be done to simplify the business even more. I think the other question that was asked was on rail and phase one. I just want to make it clear that if you run, I'm just using this as an example. If you run one train set, you're not going to make money. That one train set goes and then comes back, and then it goes. You're not going to make money, particularly relative to the fixed costs that are required to be in place to support that rail facility or that rail operation.
Depending on the uptick and the number of slots that you pick up, you will then start seeing a meaningful contribution. For us to then say it's going to be X or Y, I think it would be dangerous. I think the key thing that for me is a takeaway here is that we are making an entry into a rail business that allows us to drive an integrated logistics solution, and the scaling up of that business over time will yield the required returns. Of course, if you look at the benchmarks in terms of what the rail businesses in the matured industries achieve, some argue it's 30%, some argue it's 40% in terms of EBITDA margins. They are good margins because it's a high intense business that's got huge depreciation. You need sufficient EBITDA margin to absorb that.
That's when you're talking about 20 slots, 30 slots that you run at any point in time. In the absence of that, it's a strategic entry into the rail business, we'll start building up from there.
Thank you, Xolani. If we can keep with your insight on rail. The next question from Ntuthuko, SBG Securities. Congratulations on the positive set of results. Could you please give a bit more color on your participation in the open railway system? You have shown clear intentions to make investment with the repatriation of locomotives from Sierra Leone. What would you like to see addressed in the next iteration of the network statement, or are you happy with this? Are there any hurdles that you perceive that are worth mentioning that could be a detractor to our further investment in SA's rail infrastructure?
That's a loaded question. Look, typically for a rail operation to run smoothly, your infrastructure must be up and running. If your infrastructure is not right, I use an example that's been used before. If the road has got potholes, it doesn't matter how many Ferraris you drive on the road, they will run slow. They will never run at 200 km an hour. Fundamentally, the infrastructure must be there. The network statement addresses that by appointing an infra manager, and we're hoping that a portion of the fee that goes to them will then start to address that issue, because if that issue is not addressed, it does not matter how many train sets, how many TOCs you get running there, you will never drive the capacity.
We do firmly believe that there's a scope for increase volume based on rolling stock shortage, but a structural shift to increase volume will be driven by the extent to which the investment is made to upgrade the infrastructure. You'd have seen in the network statement that if I am manager, I need to recall these numbers correctly. If I'm wrong, please accept my apologies. If the infra manager invests, and they state all the billions of ZAR that are required per corridor, I think they can unlock 133 slots, if I'm not mistaken, or a number similar to that. There is a recognition in the network statement itself. What is good about the network statement is that because there were consultations with the industry, it incorporates the input from the industries. You will not get 100% what you want.
The good thing is that if there's an introduction of things that are concerning to the industry, there are platforms where we are able to address those issues. Hopefully, some of them get addressed.
Thank you, Xolani. The next one is from Rowan Goeller of Chronux Research. Can you update us on the status of graphite operations in northern Mozambique?
Of course, it's a customer-service provider relationship. I'm not at liberty to thrash out what the contractual terms look like. At a broader level, we can say that there are challenges in terms of the graphite movement. As you know, the Chinese are the key off-takers, and the quality of the product must meet certain standards in terms of whether it's flake or whether it's fines. Chinese prefer flakes. It's more effective in the battery making. They also do their own synthetic graphite. There are also geopolitics at play in terms of where the cargo flows, whether it's U.S. or China. It's a complex issue that our customer is well-placed to actually talk a bit more on that than I am.
Thank you, Xolani. The next question we have from Boitumelo, M&G Investments. Thank you for the presentation. A few questions for me. The $600 million CapEx in logistics, was that mostly related to the refurb of locos? What other projects are included in this number? Has there been any infrastructure damage to the port or rail and road as a result of the post-election unrest? Is the port infrastructure insured against damage that could result from riots? Is the transport brokering in the logistics segment a once-off activity, or should we expect this to be an ongoing feature and thus lower margins going forward? Matola volumes declined in the period.
Pause and answer those.
Sure. Shall we take it back then if I rephrase that? The first one was around the $600 million CapEx in logistics. Was this mainly refurb of locos, and what other projects are included in this number?
$625 million of the $788 million related to logistics, and 80% of that was concentrated between rail and containers. The rail spend amounted to $271 million, and that was, yes, a mix of refurbishment on the locomotives repatriated that have come off the line and that have been refurbed, but it is also investment in wagons. Rolling stock in totality, as well as certain smaller spec'd locomotives that we've been able to source from the market, and refurb.
Just to add. Those smaller specs, what you want to do is to take them and deploy them outside the country and bring those relatively bigger locos in-country so that we reposition a maximum amount of locomotives as we possibly can in South Africa to respond to the network statement. Sorry.
100%. In the container business, spend of approximately ZAR 232 million. Big portion of this was investment in our UCD container facility, 1616 South Coast Road in Durban. We were operating in Durban off leased properties from TNPA at Bayhead, and it was time, considering our container strategy, that we needed to invest in larger facilities, and more appropriate, in terms of location, and storage, as well as the other diversification opportunities with bond stores, et cetera, in the container space. The rest was quite minimal. East Africa, mainly, just in excess of ZAR 100 million. This largely related to refurbishment and replacement of trailers and trucks, and some work done in the facilities at Pemba.
Maybe can I make a suggestion? I think it's quite a list.
Yeah.
Is it possible maybe to compile it, and then we get it emailed to you, and then we can draft a response?
I think that will work.
If that's agreeable.
Yes. I think so, Xolani.
Yeah.
Maybe as a last question, but I think it's an overall sentiment that's coming through. The market are looking for an update on current trading, and we'll do so through an update in the first half as appropriate. There are no further questions online. I thank everyone for joining, and we welcome your questions post the presentation. Have a good day further, and thank you, everyone.