SilverBridge admitted to index

By Nicola Mawson, Contributing journalist

Johannesburg, 29 Nov 2006

Financial services software firm SilverBridge Holdings, which on Monday listed on the JSE's Alternative Exchange (AltX), has been admitted to the Financial Times Stock Exchange Authority (FTSE)/JSE Africa index.

The company, which supplies software solutions to the financial services industry, will be listed in the index from Friday, said a note from the Stock Exchange News Service.

SilverBridge was a reverse listing from the Development Capital Market, which saw the old Synergy shell company bought out. Its sole asset is SDT Financial Software Solutions; however, the company intends building this base.

On its first day of trade, it reached an intra-day high of R3.50 before settling back to R3.40. The company, which saw thin volumes, listed at R2. With 32.5 million shares in issue, it has a market capitalisation of R110.5 million.

"We are delighted with the results achieved on listing day," says SilverBridge Holdings executive director Freda du Toit. "We expect trade volumes to increase in the next few days and beyond. Given the metrics of SilverBridge, key players in the market understand that our share is attractively priced."

SilverBridge expects revenue of R38.3 million for the current financial year, with an operating margin of R7.5 million and net profit of R3.7 million, including secondary company tax on a special dividend.

For 2007, it forecasts revenue of R53 million, operating profit of R9.3 million and net profit of R7 million. In the following year, it expects revenue of R63.7 million, operating profit of R12.1 million and net profit of R8.9 million.

By 10am today, the company was trading at R3.40, unchanged from Tuesday's close.