Johannesburg, 03 Dec 2007
Vox Telecom has announced a 404% jump in revenue, to R990 million, in its audited results for the year ending 31 August 2007.
Operating profit for the period rose by 373%, to R83 million, and net profit by 416%, to R55 million. Earnings per share increased by 143%, to 7.67c from the prior period.
The group attributes its performance to strong organic growth in its voice and data businesses, combined with a successful acquisition strategy. During the past 12 months Vox Telecom has acquired a number of companies in the voice and data telecommunications market, the most significant being Orion Telecom.
"We`ve successfully combined earnings enhancing acquisitions with excellent results from our existing core businesses," says CEO Douglas Reed. "All our mature business units are showing strong organic growth, with the monthly contracted annuity base increasing by 483% to R140 million over the fiscal year."
Reed says the integration of the various acquisitions has proceeded according to plan and the 2008 fiscal year will see a full 12-month contribution from acquisitions such as Orion Telecom.
"The group`s transformation into a major alternative telecommunications supplier for South Africa is well on track," says Executive Chairman Tony van Marken. "We have established strong platforms across our data and voice businesses that enable swift and seamless integration of acquisitions and which position us to rapidly grow our business as efficiently and effectively as possible. We are also seeing a significant benefit from our ability to cross-sell across the voice and data markets, and our converged product offerings have been very well received."
Vox Telecom interconnects with all the major operators, including Vodacom, MTN and Telkom, and believes its South African market is poised for further growth in both the corporate and consumer segments.
"Our investment in VOIP and interconnection will now start to pay off and will allow us to play in the lucrative voice sector for the first time," says Reed. "The playing fields are still far from even, but at least we`re now allowed in the game, and deregulation is adding to the industry`s growth momentum."
Vox Telecom ended the year with over 12 600 corporate customers and 61 000 contracted consumers. "We have good, established businesses, a fantastic customer base and R200 million in the bank. These results are just the beginning," says Reed.
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