Altron congratulates PEP on achieving 50 years in business

Issued by Altron tmt

Johannesburg, 17 Aug 2015

Altron Chairman Dr Bill Venter together with Altron Chief Executive Robbie Venter have congratulated PEP on reaching the key milestone of 50 years in business, in the same year that Altron has achieved this milestone.

PEP Stores was founded from humble beginnings in 1965 and has grown to be one of South Africa's largest and most respected retailers, particularly within the retail clothing sector.

According to Dr Venter, central to the lifespan of any company is its value proposition and business case; how it successfully manages its assets; how it is regarded by the investor community in the case of it being listed; and bottom line profitability.

"Measured against these benchmarks, PEP has continuously stood out amongst its peers as a world-class organisation. Statistically, PEP's continued existence and performance in the face of a volatile global economic climate is extraordinary," Dr Venter said.

Both Altron leaders attributed the continued success of PEP over the past 50 years to a well-executed strategy built on sound business principles together with the collective efforts and excellence of its executives, management and staff.

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The PEP brand, according to Robbie Venter, is known to the majority of South Africans from all walks of life, and the organisation, said Venter, has built a considerable volume of brand equity through hard work, commitment and dedication.

"It is a credit to the vision of the founders of PEP, together with its past and current management and staff, that the organisation is not merely around 50 years since its founding, but that it is stronger than ever before and is a recognised market leader," added Venter.

Bytes Managed Solutions, part of the Altron group of companies, is a key partner to PEP, having recently secured a multi-year deal to deliver point-of-sale and back office IT service solutions to PEP's parent company, Pepkor. One of the key objectives of the deal for Pepkor was the adoption of a single IT service provider for the group to ensure consistency, reliability and quality of service underscored by cost optimisation through the realisation of economies of scale.

Allied Electronics

Allied Electronics (Altron) (www.altron.com), through its two divisions Altron TMT and Altron Power is invested in power electronics, telecommunications, multi-media and information technology. The Altron group employs more than 12 500 employees globally through its subsidiaries Altech, Bytes and Powertech.

Bytes MS

Bytes Managed Solutions (Bytes MS) is a services-led, software-driven and hardware-enabled organisation that markets, supports and maintains enterprise-wide end-to-end technology solutions and related services that enable medium to large enterprises to effectively deliver their offering to the end consumers in South Africa and Africa. Bytes MS leverages on partnerships, thought leadership and capabilities to deliver world class technology solutions and related services enabling its customers to achieve their growth and success.

Bytes MS is the exclusive distributor for NCR products in South Africa and strategically partners with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Alcatel, Burroughs, Unity, Postec, Unisys, Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco, and delivers complete solutions for the financial, retail, petroleum and infrastructure sectors.

Bytes MS enables businesses with over 107 service points, backed by extensive supply chain and logistics management. It supports in excess of 1 200 000 devices in more than 46 500 locations throughout South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

Bytes Managed Solutions is a division of the Bytes Technology Group and wholly-owned by JSE-listed Altron.

Altron TMT

Altron TMT, incorporating the Altech and Bytes Technology Group businesses, is a high-technology Telecommunications, Multi-media and Information Technology (TMT) solutions group focused on providing value-added products, services and solutions through the convergence of TMT, driven by market demand.

With an annual turnover of R19,4 billion and with more than 8 000 employees, Altron TMT is the largest, privately owned converged solutions provider on the African continent. The group has on-going access to the latest technologies worldwide, while its own research and development programme actively encourages and promotes internal technology implementation.

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