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Johannesburg - The board at JSE-listed mass housing construction company Sea Kay Holdings (SKY) says it's happy about the progress it has made in the 2007 financial year.
After posting a loss of R810 000 for the year to end-February 2006 it improved its financial position in 2007, posting a profit of R2.84m.
"We have produced a solid set of results," Mike Lomas, the group chairperson said, speaking at Sea Kay's annual general meeting (AGM) held at BJM House in Rosebank, Johannesburg on Wednesday . "And we want to continue doing so in 2008."
The group was listed on the JSE in August 2007, raising R47.9m before expenses; Lomas said Sea Kay exceeded its pre-listing statement earnings estimate by 31%.
Benefitting from R39bn housing spend
Sea Kay says the department of housing intends to spend R39bn over the next three years on building RDP houses.
In financial 2008, Sea Kay was appointed by the department to build 14 361 units to the value of R580m. Calendar 2008 has a record order book of R728m, said Lomas.
"We don't expect the government to change its commitment and Sea Kay is perfectly positioned to play a major role in delivering houses to the people," said Lomas.
Illegal house invasions
Kruger says illegal house invasions are a problem that Sea Kay has to contend with, with people moving into units due to housing shortages.
One of its building sites in Cape Town was illegally occupied in early December, says CEO Corné Kruger: " We evicted them but they occupied the houses again just after Christmas. We then went to court to ask for protection and the judgment is pending for the end of January."
Sea Kay has resorted to placing security personnel on its sites, leaving structures roofless and installing access control cards on site. "It is expensive but effective. Luckily, we only experienced the illegal occupations in Cape Town," said Kruger.
Organic growth
The company's focus at this juncture is to grow both organically and by acquisitions. Speaking to Fin24 after the AGM, Kruger said there are no planned acquisitions for 2008.
"Apart from the already announced acquisitions, I don't see the company buying any business in the coming year," said Kruger.
The CEO said Sea Kay acquired Sedibeng Bricks and Sea Kay Engineering during the year in a re-structure process and this was done partly on a share-to-share basis.
- Fin24