Altron has issued a trading statement, drawing attention to good performances by its Altech and Powertech businesses.
The Altron TMT division, established following the successful acquisition of the Altech minorities in August 2013 and consisting of the Altech and Bytes businesses, has performed well, exceeding management’s expectations, the company states.
Though the reorganisation process is on-going, management is extremely pleased with the progress made to date.
In particular, Altron TMT has secured several material tenders during the past six-month period, indicative of the exciting cross sell/up sell and collaboration opportunities that have arisen as a result of the integration of Altron TMT.
Bytes has continued to perform well despite its high base. While gross margins have remained under pressure, revenue has shown robust growth both in the local and international operations; Altech has recovered strongly following the disposal at the end of the last financial year of its loss making African operations.
While revenue growth has been relatively muted, profitability has recovered strongly on pleasing performances out of its main operations and despite a number of significant once off costs.
Altron Power consisting of the Powertech businesses has also made a strong recovery from last year. Despite what remain challenging and uncertain economic conditions, Powertech has delivered pleasing revenue growth and significantly improved profitability, though margins remain below historical levels.
Shareholders are advised that a reasonable degree of certainty exists that the company’s headline earnings per share for the financial year ended 28 February 2014 is expected to be between 35% – 45% higher as against the previous corresponding period.
Basic earnings per share for the financial year ended 28 February 2014 is expected to be between 280% (178 cents per share) and 300% (198 cents per share) higher as against the previous corresponding period (loss of 99 cents per share).
In addition, Altron’s normalised headline earnings per share is expected to be between 45% to 55% higher as against the previous corresponding period. The normalised headline earnings per share disclosure adjusts headline earnings for various once off costs that have arisen in the current financial year, which are either non-operational or are associated with accessing benefits that will only be realised in subsequent reporting periods.