Prism Holdings Limited ended the six-months to 31 December 2004 well positioned to capitalise on increasing global demand for its locally developed services, software and products.
The trusted transactions company`s interim results released today reveal headline earnings up 23% and revenues up 12% in rand terms to R140 million. In dollar terms, Prism`s revenues rose by a significant 28% despite continuing downward pressure on SIM card pricing due to extremely competitive market conditions.
CEO Alvin Els says the results are a reflection of the success of Prism`s business plan of carefully maintaining costs while continuing to invest in R&D in globally relevant technologies.
"We have increased costs on a measured basis ensuring the continued development of innovative products, which are the source of future revenues. We have recently seen certain products achieving commercial success following continued investment of 18 months and more," he adds.
These products include Prism`s Outdoor Payment Terminal (OPT 4000 series), which has met the stringent conditions for EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) certification; and the Prism Voucherless Top-Up (VTU) system that won a Department of Science and Technology, Technology Top 100 Award for commercial product innovation.
The OPTs form an integral part of an advanced petrol station forecourt solution being supplied by Radiant Systems, Inc to ExxonMobil in Asia. The VTU system - an over the air method of vending cellular prepaid airtime - has to date been introduced successfully into two African countries by a leading African GSM network operator.
The demand worldwide for value-added SIMs, and specifically the associated SIM software required to enable mobile transactions, has increased. The company`s model of providing global card manufacturers with SIM software under licence continues to generate recurring revenues for the South African company whose IP competes successfully with international competitors.
Further demand for Prism`s products and services is being driven by the global EMV roll-out. Major retailers in SA, including established Prism customers such as Edcon, Pick `n Pay, Shoprite Holdings and Caltex, have already or are in the process of upgrading their POS (point of sale) systems to meet EMV requirements.
The buoyant local retail sector has contributed to higher EFT (electronic funds transfer) volumes for Prism TranSwitch Services (PTSS).
Prism has made significant progress towards meeting BEE requirements, announcing its intention to sell 17% of its issued ordinary shares to the Mineworkers` Investment Company (MIC).
Finally, Els says that given the steadily improved financial position of the group over the last two years, the board has reviewed the dividend policy and intends to pay a dividend on an annual basis in future. This will be declared in the year-end results announcement.
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JSE-listed Prism Holdings Limited is a leader in the field of secure electronic transaction products, solutions and services. The group has a strong presence in SA and an established and expanding footprint across Africa and South-East Asia.
Prism has a proven track record in the delivery of secure electronic payment technologies and end-to-end solutions for the retail, utilities, banking, cellular and petroleum industries. The group has developed and implemented innovative payment-centric intellectual property that bridges the following technologies:
* Chip cards including SIM cards, financial smart cards and telephone cards
* Point-of-sale frameworks, applications and devices
* OEM transaction modules including PINpads, card readers and self-service terminals
* Transaction security modules and servers
* Payment servers, messaging gateways and value-added-services gateways
* End-to-end secure electronic payment architectures for wired and wireless networks