Allied Technologies (Altech) says it is still engaged in talks which analysts believe relate to a significant acquisition.
When Altech announced its year-end results in early May it also said it had acquired secure technology products and solutions company NamITech from Nampak for R559.3 million.
Altech CEO Craig Venter said at the time that the group was also considering various other acquisitions in its other business areas. Some of these would be as significant as the NamITech deal, he said.
Altech has in the past few years been criticised for sitting on a large cash pile and not using it for acquisitions.
On 28 February, the group had cash resources of R1.1 billion.
However, Venter has defended the group`s conservative spending policy, saying that it was prudent at a time when competitors were overvaluing acquisitions and paying too much for them.
For the first time, he said, Altech was seeing value in some opportunities.
Altech has thus far not given any details about the talks now under way, but analysts believe they are leading up to a significant deal.
For the year to 28 February Altech achieved revenue of more than R4 billion, up from R3.6 billion the previous year. Attributable earnings rose from R242.25 million to R631.34 million and headline earnings per share increased by 28.1% to 342.1c.
The group has indicated that it expects to continue to strengthen in the current financial year, despite global and local economic pressures.
The Altech share was trading at R25.10 on the JSE this morning, up 4c or 0.16% from yesterday`s close.
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