IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix Holdings Limited, has announced the annual financial results of the group for the year ended 29 February 2004.
Revenue has decreased 1% to R764 million, compared to the corresponding period, affecting EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and goodwill amortised), earnings and headline earnings per share, which are down 2%, 16% and 10% respectively. Net asset value per share has increased 17% to 97c and tangible net asset value per share increased 27% to 81c compared to the corresponding period. Cash generated from operations was R28 million, resulting in R131 million cash on hand, with no interest-bearing debt.
"The directors of Datacentrix believe that the company has performed satisfactorily in a difficult and challenging environment," says Gary Morolo, Executive Chairman at Datacentrix. "The performance of the company, its competitive profile, delivery capacity and its prospects have not changed materially, the only difference has been the change in the value of the currency relative to the US dollar between the two reporting periods. Given a constant rand in dollar terms, Datacentrix would have been presenting another pleasing set of results."
"We have always striven for stability from an investment point of view and will continue to build a strong balance sheet with tight operational and financial controls." Morolo reports that the organisation has successfully retained all of its major existing customers and has chalked up a number of significant wins over the year. "A key focus for 2003 was to make inroads into the Johannesburg market. We are now firmly entrenched within this sector, winning over a number of blue-chip customers and gaining larger long-term contracts."
Datacentrix also increased its employment equity profile, escalating its black empowerment profile from 43% to 45% with 66% of its workforce comprising designated employees.
The company`s Infrastructure division has shown healthy growth and continues to be a strong contender within the IT infrastructure supply, maintenance and support sector. The division has been a great contributor to Datacentrix`s consolidated Johannesburg success and has been established as a serious player in the enterprise systems space. Management within the Infrastructure division has been bolstered to assist the group to meet its growing customer requirements.
The focal point for Services has been the successful fulfilment of service levels and ensuing customer satisfaction. Opportunities within the selective outsourcing market have been identified as key, with increasing numbers of customers deciding against wall-to-wall outsourcing and opting for the selective outsourcing model.
On the Solutions division side, the ERP business unit already has a full pipeline for the year ahead. "We expect good performance in this field as well as in the area of software development and integration. Not only did this division garner the Microsoft Business Solution Partner of the Year award for 2003, but was also appointed local distribution partner for Princeton Softech, a US-based enterprise-scale data management solution provider, which has helped broaden our data archiving offering."
The organisation eagerly awaits the finalisation of the ICT Charter, as Morolo believes that Datacentrix`s continued focus on internal transformation imperatives should enable the company to easily meet any requirements. "Particular focus is now being placed on improving our empowerment supplier purchases and corporate social investment programmes."
Other new developments within the group include the decision to pay dividends for the first time. An ordinary dividend of 6.9c per share for the year ended 29 February 2004 has been proposed. In line with JSE requirements, the chairman and CEO roles have also been separated, with Gerhard Uys taking up the CEO position and Morolo retaining the title of Executive Chairman.
"The group`s strategic focus remains unchanged and we will continue to look for growth within the Johannesburg market. We are also expecting growth within the government sector and are planning on becoming the pre-eminent player within the enterprise systems space," says Morolo. "Datacentrix remains confident that it best represents the ideal long-term strategic channel partner for vendors and customers.
"Additionally, we are expecting to see the start of a number of sizeable infrastructure `refresh` projects as organisations start to upgrade equipment implemented during the Y2K boom," he concludes.
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