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Old Mutual reluctantly enters the spotl... Venmyn predicts more mines over the next... Northam - acting in shareholders' worst ... |
COMPANY ROUNDUPPARAMEDPeriod: 12 months to June 30 Turnover: R52.2-million Attributable earnings: R8.5-million Dividend: 5c Security and medical assistance group Paramed reported maiden earnings 40% ahead of its prospectus forecast. Director Stan Rubin says the group will feel the full benefit of acquisitions in the coming financial year. Paramed has established itself in greater Johannesburg, where a new technologically advanced control centre has been commissioned in Randburg, as well as in the Eastern and Western Cape. Rubin expects organic and acquisitional growth and efficiency improvements this year.
KLIPTON Safety and security group Klipton said it now wholly-owned Sentry Security following the acquisition of the remaining 25% stake in the company from FirstCorp Capital Investors. Joint chairman Nigel Matthews said Sentry Security was the group's largest earnings contributor and enjoyed high growth prospects. The company had a customer base in excess of 80 000 households, many of them in the A and B income bracket. "Given the current recessionary conditions, unemployment and concomitant levels of crime are likely to increase. Under these circumstances, customers can be expected to continue to spend on their security requirements," he said. MURRAY & ROBERTS Murray & Roberts (M&R) and French building materials giant Lafarge have finalised Lafarge's purchase of M&R's Blue Circle cement for around $240-million. Blue Circle, South Africa's third-largest cement producer with more than 20% of the market, was until 1992 a subsidiary of UK group Blue Circle Industries. The deal, which was struck in July, takes Murray & Roberts a step closer to exiting from building and construction materials to concentrate more on its contracting, engineering and transport interests.
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY Soon to be listed IT company Global Technology has acquired a controlling interest in the IBD Group for R7.5-million. The deal will be settled in cash and shares with an earn-out period of a year, after which Global Technology will acquire the remaining shares in the analytical software vendor. The total value of the deal is estimated to be in excess of R25-million. Global Technology CE Ray Leonard says IBD will be part of the group's move into Africa. The acquisition is a third for Global Technology and is a strategic move in the group's repositioning as a solutions provider to the broader financial services sector.
TRIDELTA Period: 12 months to June 30 Attributable earnings: R22.1-million Dividend: None The integrated German and South African magnet producer beat prelisting forecasts by 26.7% in its maiden set of results. Financial director Ivan Sammons said there was every reason to believe that Tridelta would continue to achieve excellent growth in the 1999 financial year. "A growth rate in excess of 12% a year in international demand for magnets is obviously well in excess of worldwide economic growth rates, and the demand for magnets is accelerating as technology advances in quantum leaps." Tridelta listed 158.2-million shares on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Friday. Tridelta already has a presence in Europe, with two of its three magnet manufacturing plants in the German cities of Dortmund and Hermsdorf. The third one is in KwaZulu-Natal and it currently produces more than 200 tons of magnets a month, set to rise to 1 000 tons when the Isithebe operation reaches full production by June 1999.
CONCOR Period: 12 months to June 30 Turnover: R1.16-billion (Up 21.9%) Attributable earnings: R38.96-million (Up 13%) Dividend: 85c (Up 18.1%) Concor said it did not expect the collapse of a bridge under construction earlier this year to have any negative impact on its financial results. It said it was still investigating the cause of the accident, which killed 14 people. It said gains were made despite a subdued performance in its Technicrete and road and earthworks divisions, where profits were lower than those recorded in 1997. Managing director Gavin Hardy attributed the subdued performance in these divisions to a drop in commodity prices, lower government infrastructural spending, interest rate increases, and the general slowdown of the economy. The group, he said, was entering the 1999 financial year with a healthy order book - of R1-billion - and several regional projects.
AUTOPAGE Period: Six months to end-August Turnover: R215-million (Up 51.4%) Attributable earnings: R3.3-million (Up 17.9%) Dividend: None The results were in line with forecasts. The company said the group's strategy remains the acquisition, development and growth of subscriber-based businesses in the wireless communications field.
HOECHST SA Period: Six months to June 30 Turnover: R937.2-million (Down 5.5%) Attributable earnings: R27.4-million (Down 7.5%) Dividend: None (From 5c) The company's primary area of concern remains its fibre operations where no respite from depressed global trading conditions is seen. It said headline earnings for the full year would be below those of the previous year. Hoechst South Africa will soon be delisted to restructure local operations with those of the holding company, Hoechst AG.
MASTERFRIDGE Period: 12 months to June 30 Turnover: R426-million (Up 9.6%) Attributable loss: R62.1-million (From R21.4-million profit) Dividend: None The group said earnings were hit by adverse market conditions which led to under-recoveries in its Swaziland factories. Earnings were also eroded by an over-emphasis on building new factories, modernising plant and machinery and a failure to commission them in a timely manner. However, Masterfridge said its corrective measures were beginning to make a positive impact on profits.
RENTSURE Period: 12 months to June 30 Premium income: R164.04-million (Up 35.2%) Investment income: R7.8-million (Down 84%) Attributable earnings: R14.5-million (Up 15.8%) Dividend: 9c (Up 15.4%) The company expects further growth in premium income and says this will result in a healthy group result for the coming year. Premium income was driven by Rentmeester Assurance while investment income was hit by a drop in the value of stock market investments.
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