Mvelaserve will promote its in-house ICT unit to a fully-fledged company in July, a year after the division was established.
Circle ICT was founded last year to provide in-house ICT solutions. From July, it will operate as a separate entity, as it will be spun out of the Protea Coin group.
Mvelaserve, an outsourced business service supplier, was unbundled from the Mvelaphanda group. Its portfolio includes security through Protea Coin, facilities management through TFMC, Royalserve catering and cleaning, Contract Forwarding freight services, water purification through SA Water, and IT support and services unit Circle ICT.
The company yesterday released its maiden results for the half-year to December after listing at the end of November. Revenue grew 18%, to R2.2 billion, and after-tax profit gained 34%, to R89 million.
CEO Jorge Ferreira says Circle beat his expectations of either making a loss, or breaking even in its first year of operations. In the first half of the year, the ICT company turned over R7 million, and achieved an operating margin of 7.5%.
The company employs around 40 staff, after starting off as a greenfields venture last July, says Ferreira. “It's about growing our own timber,” he notes.
Mvelaserve wants to grow more in-house companies such as Circle, and the company is also keen to expand its ICT offerings in SA and Africa, says Ferreira. “I'm like a fisherman; I've always got 10 lines in the water.”
Ferreira understands the potential that Circle has, but would prefer it to continue growing at a sustainable rate. The company is also looking at expanding into Africa, although this does come with risks, he says.
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