The Altron Group has delivered a strong set of interim results despite a global downturn in the telecommunications and IT markets.
<B>Salient figures</B>
Altron results for the six months to 31 August 2002.
Year-earlier figures in parentheses, move in square brackets:
Revenue: R6.2b (R5.01b) [+23.8%]
Operating income: R406.92m (R329.34m) [+23.6%]
Income before goodwill amortisation and exceptional items: R454.57m (R383.24m)
Income before tax: R724.82m (R325.31m) [+122.8%]
Attributable earnings: R308.84m (R103.52m) [+198.3%]
HEPS: 59c (51.3c) [+15%]
Current assets: R5b (R3.94b)
Net cash and equivalents: R1.24b (R1.09b)
Current liabilities: R2.77b (R2.03b)
NAV per share: 820.4c (612.7c)
The group, which has been transformed from a holding company to an operating company following the acquisition of the Fintech and Powertech minorities, overcame deteriorating market conditions to report a 198.3% surge in attributable earnings.
Revenue of R6.2 billion positions the group well to achieve full-year revenue of more than R10 billion. Revenue at the end of the previous financial year was R9.9 billion.
Revenue from exports and foreign operations accounted for 31% of overall revenue.
CE Robert Venter says the market in SA was further affected by rising inflation and a continued slowdown in gross domestic product growth.
Electronics and multimedia was the largest revenue earner, contributing 37.1% of the group revenue, followed by telecommunications (31.6%), IT (30.8%) and corporate and financial services (0.5%).
The telecommunications downturn was evident at operating income level, with the telecoms business`s operating income falling 30% from the year-earlier period, while the electronics and multimedia business boosted its operating income by 82%.
"These exceptional results largely offset the impact the downturn in the telecoms industry had on the group`s performance," Venter says.
The IT business recorded an 82.9% increase in operating income mainly thanks to the restructuring of Bytes Technology Group and good growth at Altech.
"Unlike many companies around the world that are active in the diversified high-technology arena, Altron has a strong and well-structured balance sheet, good orders on hand and several new acquisitions that should contribute to the growth of the group in the years to come," says chairman Bill Venter.
"We also have the capacity to take advantage of further acquisition opportunities."
He says he expects market conditions for the rest of the financial year to remain challenging, but with order books at a satisfactory level and a reduced cost base in the telecoms business, the group should achieve overall growth for the full year.
The Altron share, which rose 1.3% or 11c to close at 830c on the JSE yesterday, was unchanged this morning.
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