The Prism share price has continued to rise on news of an improvement in the group`s financial performance.
On Friday the Prism share added another 3c or 7.5% to close at 43c.
On Thursday the share rose by 3c from Wednesday's 37c close. This was after Prism issued a trading update in the afternoon, in which it said it expected a 20% to 30% increase in fully diluted headline earnings per share for the six months to end-December.
For the same period a year earlier, Prism, a secure electronic transactions group, recorded diluted headline earnings of 1.1c a share, down from 3.6c previously.
An analyst says he is simultaneously cautious and optimistic. The growth of cellular telephony is continuing, and there is still high demand for SIM cards, which means there are good opportunities for Prism.
However, Prism needs to manage those opportunities properly if it is to benefit from them, he adds.
"Most of the revenue is in dollars, so they`re still vulnerable to a strong rand," he says. "Plus there`s been a lot of pressure on the prices of SIM cards in the last year or so. So those are going to be things to keep an eye on."
Despite the continuing strength of the rand against the dollar, Prism attributes its earnings increase to improved sales volumes.
The picture is different from that of the year to June when a strong rand made a dent in dollar-denominated revenue despite higher sales volumes.
The share price continued to rise this morning. By 10am it was at 44c after 423 000 shares worth R188 900 changed hands in 11 deals. The share touched 45c earlier this morning.
The results for the six months to 31 December are expected to be released on 1 February.
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