Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Electronics and electrical engineering
company Reunert [JSE:RLO] on Tuesday reported diluted headline earnings per share (Heps)
of 594.1 cents for the year ended September 2011, from 501.1c previously.
Diluted earnings per share rose 61% to 803.3c, from 498.8c
in 2010.
Normalised Heps rose 15% to 585.9c, from 511.1c earlier.
Revenue of R10.9bn was marginally up from R10.7bn, while
operating profit improved 10% to R1.4bn from R1.26bn.
Reunert declared a final cash dividend of 253c/share, from
220c in 2010, bringing the total cash dividend for the year to 330c/share from
287c previously.
Cash resources of R1.1bn went into the repurchase of 17.1
million shares at an average price of R66.14 during the year. The group said
the balance sheet had remained robust, with cash and cash equivalents amounting
to R564.6m.
Reunert CEO Dave Rawlinson said the CBI-electric group of
companies recorded a strong performance during the year. "All operations
performed well in an environment which has not been easy and that has persisted
over the past few years.
"Revenue increased by 13% to R3.3bn and operating
profit improved by 14% to R592.1m."
The demand for energy cables continued at levels seen in the
latter half of 2010. The copper price remained high, but was relatively stable
during the year.
"The higher revenue achieved at these copper prices has
a small impact on margins as we have continued to keep copper stocks as low as
possible," Rawlinson said. The continued focus on improved efficiencies
contributed to CBI-electric's improved gross margins, the group added.
Reunert said its telecommunications cables joint venture
again had a turbulent year, experiencing weak demand in the first six months
with some improvement being reflected in the second half of the year.
"The planned fibre-optic cable connection between the
major South African cities has led to demand for fibre and micro-duct
increasing. However, the low demand for copper cable remains a point of
concern," Rawlinson said.
Reunert added that Nashua performed to expectation in a
quiet market. A number of acquisitions were made in the segment which added to
revenue, enabling marginal growth of 1%. These acquisitions, which included
four franchises and ECN, together with substantial increases in the contributions
from the financing operation Quince Capital and Nashua Electronics, resulted in
operating profit growth of 21% to R794.2m.
Nashua Mobile had a satisfactory year, despite the reduction
in interconnect rates. The conversion of its LCR business to ECN's VoIP
platform was ongoing. The focus on mobile data and voice resulted in more than
27 000 additional net connections during the year.
The office automation operations experienced increased unit sales, but a quiet market resulted in margins remaining under pressure, the group said. Increased offerings in the print service and data management and storage areas increased the operation's share of the tender business.
"We will continue with our strategy of purchasing the larger franchises to get closer to our customers," Rawlinson said.
Revenue for the year for Reutech dropped by 19% to R639.3m,
while operating profit fell 20% to R48.7m.
Looking ahead, Reunert said the SA economy and the economies
of most of its export markets remained fragile, and 2012 was expected to be yet
another challenging year.
"We will continue to promote innovation, a commitment
to meeting our customers' requirements and sound governance principles.
"Subject to prevailing economic conditions not
worsening, we anticipate achieving growth in earnings per share in the year
ahead," the group concluded.
