JSE-listed ERP.com Holdings has posted strong results for the year to 31 July 2001, and CEO Peter Forsyth is promising even better growth in the coming year.
He says the group expects a strong performance in the current financial year, and he is predicting growth of at least 25% in earnings per share.
He attributes the current growth levels "in the toughest market I have known in my 20 years in IT" to a strong skill base and the fact that each of the group`s five operating divisions is strong in its own sector.
"With our areas we are very focused, and the technologies we have chosen are world leaders."
ERP.com focuses on JD Edwards e-business solutions, iServe on SAP e-business solutions, Activ8 on PeopleSoft e-business applications, SecureData on IT e-commerce security solutions, and Bateleur Customised Solutions on network solutions.
Two of the divisions were acquired over the past year, although the PeopleSoft business was acquired after the year-end and does not feature in the results.
Forsyth says the SecureData business, acquired from recently de-listed SecureData, is a good company.
"It had an exclusive Trend Micro (an anti-virus product) contract. We have put in a proper customer support centre and we have brought out complementary products, so it is not just an anti-virus company, but a security company."
Products now include firewalls and intruder prevention, and the company is looking at the encryption arena, although this is still a tentative consideration. "We do need to stick with what we know," Forsyth says.
The group is also excited about the acquisition of the PeopleSoft business, he adds. The company bought the South African business from the PeopleSoft group, and the aim is to turn it around.
"It is hard to be the South African arm of a global company," Forsyth says. Among other factors, the market is very different from that of the parent company. "You need local people on the ground who understand the local market, you need different pricing for SA, and so on."
Forsyth says the group has met its financial and strategic targets for the second successive year, and will continue to do so.
"I am making the growth prediction for next year because I am confident we can achieve it, but also because I believe that in this market a company, especially a small-cap stock, has to say what it can do.
"We know our markets, and we have grown our annuity income, so it is not just a stab in the dark."
The group was taxed at the full rate for the first time and this will remain going forward. He says the inventory levels on the balance sheet increased as a result of the fact that SecureData and Bateleur carry stock.
Forsyth says SecureData contributed about 36% of group revenue, iServe 25%, ERP.com 20%, and Bateleur about 19%. With the addition of Activ8 in the current year, SecureData is expected to contribute a smaller percentage, but the other contributions should remain about the same in percentage terms.
The ERP.com share price was unchanged at 19c early this morning.
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