Johannesburg - Gupta-owned Oakbay Investments on Thursday said it derived R233m from its total revenue of R2.62bn from government business.
This is according to a statement released by the group detailing its revenue for the financial year ended 29 February 2016. Revenue was up 7% from the previous year. The group derived 8.9% of its revenue from government business, the group said in its maiden results release.
In a statement, Chief Executive Nazeem Howa said: “I hope this will help audiences understand our operations and dispel some of the myths that have been built up about our Group, especially the myth that we are heavily reliant on government business, when nothing could be further from the truth.”
Mining, the group’s largest division contributed 44.5% to revenue at R1.17bn. Oakbay reiterated that JIC Mining Services, the group’s largest mining company, never had a government contract.
Privately held Sahara Computers, was the second highest contributor, reporting R1.1bn in revenues. “Sahara also does not have any government contracts, following a deliberate decision taken by its Board in 2008,” stated Oakbay.
The group said its media business was profitable, but did not elaborate on the details.
Read: Eskom responds in detail to Gupta coal allegations
Through Oakbay’s 29% share in Tegeta, the group has access to Brakfontein coal mine. In the past period, Oakbay’s coal supply to Eskom came to 1.25%.
Chief Financial Officer of Oakbay Resources and Energy, Trevor Scott said that the auditing of profit figures were not concluded at the time of the results announcement. He said the unaudited operating profit figure was approximately around R500m.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: