Morvest, which bolstered both revenue and headline earnings in the first half of the year, plans to expand more into Africa and internationally over the next 12 to 18 months.
The group says this is a "key strategic objective" in the short-term as it sees "significant growth opportunities in the emerging markets primarily in outsourcing, ICT, resourcing, training and education".
Morvest believes these prospects could offer an "attractive counter to anticipated difficult conditions locally". In the six months to November, it reported revenue 15% higher, to R545 million, while headline earnings also gained 15%, to R29.5 million.
The group says telecommunications companies continue to squeeze margins as a result of pricing pressure, and it is also focused on cost containment in the year ahead.
Black-owned Morvest has operations in SA, Mozambique, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
Its operations are positioned in three key segments: business support services (including professional services and outsourcing solutions), ICT solutions, and its retail and consumer segment. Business support services accounted for 49% of the revenue, with ICT solutions accounting for the balance.
A year ago, it bought 60% of both iSolve Business Solutions and SQLDB Technology Solutions from Bhavmon, for a total of R16.2 million.
It says during the first half, local and Nigerian markets were "challenging". SA currently accounts for 93% of its revenue, with the rest coming from Africa.
In Nigeria, the group has been providing SIM and scratch cards to major cellphone operators for about eight years. Its margin pressure is nothing new: two years ago it said it expects tough market conditions and pricing pressure from clients to continue.
Its share price closed 1c higher to 23c yesterday.
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