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Bell returns to profit

Johannesburg - Heavy duty equipment and articulated vehicle supplier Bell Equipment [JSE:BEL] swung to a full-year profit on Monday, helped by cost cuts and stronger demand.

Bell said headline earnings per share rose to 27 cents in the year to end-December, compared with 274c loss a year earlier.

Revenue increased to R3.4bn from R2.7bn and the company said it saved R208m in overheads costs.

"The aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2008-09 continued to be felt throughout most of 2010. Fortunately, however, the severe austerity measures taken by management during 2009 and 2010 under the board's direction have paid off and have resulted in a dramatic turnaround in the group's results," Bell said.

It said that the most significant aspect of its financial results was the generation of cash - R338m  for the year under review.

"The turnaround in profitability can be attributed to a number of factors. Sales revenue has increased by 26% in comparison with the previous year, with fourth-quarter sales, in particular, showing significant growth over each of the other three quarters," the group said.

Another meaningful contributor to the turnaround,  was the reduction in group overheads, which dropped by R208m to R734m.

CEO Gary Bell said it was not   expecting much growth from Europe “in general”.

“We are focusing our efforts on the growing east European market, which has excellent potential into the future. We are also seeing improved outlook in Asia, which has traditionally not been a large ADT market, and strong demand in Africa. For many years, Bell has had a very strong African presence and in 2010 this helped drive our recovery and turnaround. Africa's backlog in infrastructure and the demand for our minerals by high growth developing markets has seen increased demand.”





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