Johannesburg - Bidvest said it would swoop on other food services firms following its R2.5bn acquisition of Nowaco, an Eastern European-based business - a deal it said would contribute to the group's bottom line "immediately".
The group also said it was hopeful the Fifa 2010 World Cup would spur its current financial year - a view based on increased trading activity in the Confederations Cup, a trial run for the Fifa World Cup, which took place in June.
These comments come after the R38.5bn industrial giant reported relatively stable full year figures on Monday in which trading profit was 3.7% lower year-on-year. Headline share earnings were nearly 13% lower owing to the cost of restructuring one of its UK businesses.
"We continue to look for further acquisitions in food services," said Brian Joffe, CEO of Bidvest, who added that Bidserv, its outsourced services business, was also a tactical growth point for the group.
Bidvest spent R118.3m reorganising its UK catering unit 3663 and UK-based automotive services division Ontime, which performed poorly.
As befits the group's diversity, however, it credited its wide operational and geographical spread of activities for sustaining the group's cash generation which was 10.9% higher at 6.8bn at end-June 2009. Revenue increased by 1.8% to R112.4bn.
Shares in Bidvest were 1.3% lower on the JSE by 13:00 on Monday, trading at R110.20 per share.
"The decentralised business model has proven resilient at a time when others appear to be faltering," Bidvest said in notes to its year-end figures. Bidvest comprises of nine key operational divisions.
Bidvest has used the downturn to strengthen its balance sheet. Net debt declined by R1.5bn to R4.1bn at end-June 2008, thanks to tighter asset management. Net debt to equity stands at 28.5%, compared to 40.3% in 2008.
The group is also in a marginally stronger cash position - R3.2bn in cash and equivalents at end-June 2009.
"This is a testimony to the business' cash generative power," said Andrew Kingston, senior equity analyst at Sanlam Investment Management.
"Some of their competitors have not been as cash generative in the current cycle. Bidvest has done well," he added.
Bid Auto is Bidvest's automotive division in South Africa and is largely represented by vehicle retailer McCarthy Motor Holdings. The unit reported a 10.8% decline in revenue to R16.5bn, while trading profit fell by almost a third to R502m.
Strong Asian Pacific growth
The unit's problems are symptomatic of depressed demand in the automotive sector and come in spite of management's efforts to cut costs, reduce inventory levels and focus on sales of second-hand vehicles.
The South African food services operations - Caterplus and Bidfood Ingredients - are housed in Bidfood. Bidfood revenue was 12.1% higher at R4.9bn. Trading profit at Bidfood rose 8.3% to R232.2m from R214.3m in June 2008.
Bidserv, which houses a wide range of businesses including cleaning operations Prestige, reported a 13.1% increase in revenue to R7.2bn and a 11.4% increase in trading profit to R933.8m.
Bidvest's Asian Pacific operations have grown strongly over the past year, with revenue climbing by 18% to 17.1bn - partly because the area was not hit as hard by the economic downturn.
This division is now the third-biggest contributor to Bidvest revenue. "It's a vast growth area," said Joffe.
Bidvest's European operations reported a mixed result with revenue rising 9.8% to R36.9bn. Joffe says that the economic situation in the UK has stabilised but operations in the Ireland, Belgium and the Benelux area could be in for more economic pain.
- Fin24.com