JSE-listed Prism Holdings plans to pay an annual dividend as a result of its strong financial position over the past two years.
CEO Alvin Els, commenting on the group`s results for the six months to end-December, says a dividend will be declared when the full-year results are released.
Prism has recorded an improvement in its interim figures, despite the negative effects of a strong rand. The secure transactions group says 60% of its revenue during the period was in dollars.
Revenue rose to R139.9 million, up 12.5% from R124.4 million for the same period a year earlier. Els says the increase was 28% when measured in dollar terms.
Operating profit rose by 57.4% to R16.23 million (2003: R10.31 million), with an operating margin of 11.6%, an improvement over the previous comparable operating margin of 8.29%.
Profit before tax was up by 98.6% to R14.29 million (R7.19 million), aided by exceptional items of R3.25 million, relating to a profit on disposals, as well as net finance income of R1.06 million.
Attributable earnings rose by 40.1% to R6.17 million (R4.4 million). Earnings per share rose by 37.5% to 1.1c (0.8c) while headline earnings were up by 30.8% to 1.7c a share (1.3c).
Cash generation improved, with cash resources at the end of the period amounting to R52.92 million (R27.68 million).
Els says prospects for earnings per share growth for the full year remain favourable, although the current level of the rand is cause for concern and has caused a re-evaluation of certain initiatives and expansion plans.
Some of the drivers behind the prospects are the imminent Europay, MasterCard and Visa deadlines for smart cards in the banking sector, as well as growing demand for encryption hardware and software.
The Prism share lost 4c or 8.9% to close at 41c on the JSE yesterday. The price was unchanged by midmorning today after 167 100 shares changed hands in eight deals.
Share