IT infrastructure, solutions and services provider, Datacentrix, has presented its fifth set of solid annual results as a listed company, with revenue increasing by 48% to R770.7 million and operational performance (EBITDA) increasing by 48% to R58.3 million compared to the previous year`s results.
Headline earnings per share increased by 31% to 21.8c and earnings per share by 38% to 18.6c. Net cash generated from operations amounted to R62.1 million, and diligent asset management and financial controls have resulted in cash balances of R118 million at year-end. The group has no interest-bearing debt.
Datacentrix shows a five-year headline earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 36% and basic earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 32%.
"The growth that Datacentrix has achieved over the past five years has exceeded all reasonable expectations for a company of this size in this particular market sector," says Gary Morolo, executive chairman of Datacentrix. "Focusing on real customer needs, basic business principles, a strong balance sheet, positive cash flows, real and sustainable empowerment and excellence in delivery has served the company well in the current tough market for technology companies, and we intend to maintain these performance levels over time."
On a regional basis, Datacentrix saw an impressive performance for FY2003 from its four main regions, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. The company`s presence in Johannesburg was strengthened by the acquisition of Solution Management NetworX (Proprietary) Limited (S M NetworX) effective March 2002, leading to a successful first year performance for this area.
Looking specifically at the company`s Infrastructure business unit, all of the strategic objectives set have been met, contributing to the establishment of the organisation as a serious player within the enterprise space. Datacentrix`s strategic relationship with HP, as well as deepening partnerships with Microsoft and IBM, are integral to this development and have enjoyed further reinforcement during the year. VERITAS and ADIC have also become significant partners for this division over the past year.
A dedicated Microsoft licensing business unit was created in March 2003 to ensure that the company has the support necessary for the multimillion-rand Microsoft projects, secured within government and various commercial sectors.
Datacentrix`s Solutions business unit has played a key role in establishing the organisation as the foremost ERP solution provider of Microsoft Great Plains, seeing significant project wins and a healthy pipeline in this sector. The ERP and Hosted Services business unit has continued to show growth by providing its anchor client, Premier Foods Limited, with hosting operations, and is currently in advanced negotiations to provide similar facilities to a number of other customers. In addition, the company has seen continuous success with its infrastructure optimisation, archiving and integration product offerings from the IXOS Software and Sterling Commerce product suites.
The Services business unit has been successfully established as an independent division within the company and is poised to become a major profit generator in its own right for the company. "Our Services business unit is set to become a significant player within the local outsourcing market," explains Morolo. "Achievements for this business unit include notable client wins and retention, particularly involving multi-year desktop maintenance and support contracts."
Datacentrix`s approach of dealing with black economic empowerment (BEE) as a strategic imperative early enough, and relentlessly pursuing the implementation thereof, has resulted in the independent assessment and acknowledgement of the company as the foremost empowered listed company in SA. The most recent example of this is EmpowerDex`s widely publicised empowerment report, which saw Datacentrix named as SA`s most empowered listed company.
"The company`s involvement in empowerment is now moving beyond a purely internal focus," says Morolo. "One of our divisional directors, Neville Naaidoo, has been elected as the national chairman of BIT4M (the former Black Information Technology Forum), and Imogen Mkhize, non-executive director of Datacentrix, has been appointed as deputy national chairperson. Mkhize has also been appointed to the recently announced government task team for economic empowerment."
Major appointments within the group over the past 12 months include that of Elizabeth Naidoo as CFO, Dion Visagie as divisional director, Johann Coetzee as business development director and Infrastructure MD, and Ahmed Mahomed as executive director to the Datacentrix Holdings Board.
"Datacentrix has proven itself to be a nimble, flexible organisation, but more vital to its success has been its single-minded pursuit of its medium- and long-term strategies," says Morolo. "This has allowed us to navigate a tough trading environment and poor market sentiment and we have emerged well-poised for further successes in an environment where technology companies have shown considerable strain.
"We believe that Datacentrix is ideally positioned to take advantage of this year`s identified development areas, which include server consolidation, storage and selective forms of outsourcing and we expect to further fortify our position by the end of 2003," Morolo concludes.
Share
