Declining imports hamper Compuclear

Revenue has declined slightly, as SA imported 30% less during the year to June, says JSE-listed Compu-Clearing Outsourcing (Compuclear).

The company provides IT products and services to the customs clearing, freight forwarding, air cargo and related industries.

Compuclear reported revenue almost flat at R45 million, a 1% decline, but maintained its dividend at last year's level of 25c a share. Net profit was down 40%, to R6.5 million, and earnings per share also dropped 41%, to 15.8c.

In a Stock Exchange News Service announcement, the clearing company says “the year under review was dominated by difficult economic conditions”.

However, Compuclear says the fact that its revenue only declined a percent, while import volumes dropped 30%, indicates it is positioned to benefit from a turnaround in the economy.

It says the customer base continues to grow, which is mitigating the impact of a general decline in import volumes.

“There has been pleasing growth in users of Stash, a PC-based warehousing solution, and the group's online tariff book, albeit off a low base. We anticipate these products will experience further positive growth in the year ahead,” it says.

Compuclear is increasing its use of the Internet as a distribution mechanism for its products, which is expanding its reach without significantly increasing costs.

“Management plans to broaden the revenue base through the introduction of new products, and to this end [the company] has been appointed as the sole local distributor of Cargowise, an ERP freight management solution,” the company adds.

While revenue was flat, its costs went up due to increases in its payroll of 17.6% as it sought to “retain skilled personnel” and increased staff numbers.

Increased payroll costs led to an increase of 13.8% in operating costs and an operating margin of 16.3%, down from last year's 27.2%.

Attributable earnings declined to R6.5 million, from R10.9 million after a secondary tax charge on dividends of R1 million. However, the company continued to generate strong cash, with income from operations amounting to 150% of operating profit, up from 120% last year.