Italtile Ltd. provided group earnings guidance for the year ended June 30, 2015. The Group's basic earnings per share (EPS) will be between 75.1 cents and 76.9 cents (2014: 55.3 cents), reflecting an increase of between 36% and 39% compared to the previous corresponding period ended June 30, 2014. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) will be between 70.8 cents and 72.8 cents (2014: 57.6 cents), reflecting an increase of between 23% and 26% compared to the previous corresponding period ended June 30, 2014.

The Group's basic EPS from continuing operations will be between 75.1 cents and 76.9 cents (2014: 57.4 cents), reflecting an increase of between 31% and 34% compared to the previous corresponding period ended June 30, 2014. HEPS from continuing operations will be between 70.8 cents and 72.8 cents (2014: 58.7 cents), reflecting an increase of between 21% and 24% compared to the previous corresponding period ended June 30, 2014. Earnings growth includes the impact of the following: An IFRS 2 charge of ZAR 12 million (2014: ZAR 17 million) related to the Italtile Staff Share Scheme, of which ZAR 7 million (2014: ZAR 11 million) is an accelerated charge related to franchisee staff; The increased contribution of ZAR 62 million (2014: ZAR 29 million) to Group profit from associates Ceramic Industries Ltd. and Ezeetile; Net finance income of ZAR 11 million (2014: net finance cost of ZAR 9 million) attributable to the settlement of long term debt and improved net cash holdings of the Group; A lower effective tax rate resulting from reduced consolidated Dividend Withholding Tax charges compared with the prior corresponding period and the income tax benefit of share award vestings and payments in the current period; A fair value gain of ZAR 14 million derived from the reclassification of a subsidiary (Ser Export s.p.a.) to an associate following the disposal by the Group of a portion of its shareholding in this company; A onceoff gain of ZAR 19 million resulting from the reclassification to income of Foreign Currency Translation Reserve related to Italtile Mauritius Proprietary Limited, previous bearer of certain of the Group's non South African trademarks, following the liquidation distribution of that company's net assets to South Africa; and Onceoff losses related to discontinued operations in the prior comparative period of ZAR 20 million.

Systemwide turnover from continuing operations for the year ended June 30, 2015 will be between 16% and 19% higher than the prior comparative period (2014: ZAR 4.46 billion). This performance reported for the year is attributable to continued implementation of the Group's Business Optimisation Programme in key areas across the Group which identified opportunities for best practice improvement and resulted in good growth.