GijimaAst buoyant on earnings

By Nicola Mawson, Contributing journalist

Johannesburg, 13 Feb 2007

JSE-listed IT services company GijimaAst expects increased earnings, despite a once-off acquisition cost.

The company, which is finalising its interim results to end-December, says it will release its financial report on 27 February.

In a note to shareholders, it says basic earnings per share are expected to increase to between 1.15c and 1.25c a share from the previous six-month reporting period. Headline earnings per share for the same comparative period are expected to increase to between 1.10c and 1.20c a share.

The increase, it says, is despite "once-off acquisition, integration and restructuring costs amounting to 2.35c per share relating to the acquisition of the minority shares in AST Distributed Technology Services".

Last year, GijimaAst said at its interims that revenue decline had been halted. Revenue for the six months to December rose to R879.5 million from a year-earlier figure of R736.28 million.

However, these results were not directly comparable, as the prior-year figures exclude those of Gijima, which was merged into AST Group to create the new GijimaAst. On a combined basis, prior-year revenue was R884.44 million.

Companies are required to notify shareholders as soon as they are aware results will differ by at least 20% from the previous period.

GijimaAst's shares opened this morning at 96c and were trading 2.08% down at 94c by 9.32am. The company's shares closed at 96c yesterday, near its 12-month high of 97c. Its 12-month low is 44c.