AST has sold, for R11.5 million in cash, its 50% stake in disaster recovery and business continuity services provider Safeguard iT to Guardian IT, the holder of the remaining 50% of the company.
At the same time, AST has announced the sale of its 53.89% interest in Managed Enterprise Resources in IT (Merit) to management for lb700 000 in cash.
Merit is a UK-based consultancy business specialising in providing integration and transformation services and resources.
AST says it has received payment in both instances and the cash will be used to bolster working capital and reduce debt.
The group says the two companies were identified as not being core to its focus and were thus sold as part of its business improvement programme, the name it has given to a restructuring exercise aimed at cutting debt and costs.
For illustrative purposes, the disposals, had they taken place on 1 July 2002, would have resulted in AST reporting a 9.37c headline loss per share for the year to June 2003, instead of the reported 10.15c headline loss per share.
AST CEO John Miller said in November that the group was making good progress in achieving a sustainable annualised cost saving of more than R200 million a year, which is the programme`s main objective.
"The business improvement programme is meeting expectations and we are fully committed to its successful implementation," he said. "The idea generation and planning part of the programme will be completed by March 2004 with full implementation by December 2004.
"However, the full annualised financial benefits will only become evident in the 2005 financial year, as previously advised."
Share