Altron has released its interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2022, reporting a 57% increase in operating profit before capital items to R255 million.
Revenue is up by 15% to R5.3 billion, and it has swung from a R30 million net loss to R96 million net profit after tax — a 420% increase.
The company’s “stars” for the first half of its financial year were Altron FinTech, Altron Security, and Altron Arrow.
Altron Fintech reported 277% year-on-year growth in payment terminal sales, a 19% increase in processed transactions to 14 million, and a 25% increase in the value of transactions processed to R15 billion.
It also saw a 22% increase in card issuance equipment sales.
This enabled the division to grow revenue by 35.5% from R400 million to R542 million.
Altron Security grew its revenue by 375% from R56 million to R266 million thanks to high licence and software sales. Its operating profit is R58 million, six times higher than last year.
Altron Arrow reported a 26.4% increase in revenue to R321 million, driven by higher component sales created by global shortages and the Enterprise Computing Solutions software business.
Arrow’s strong revenue performance resulted in an operating income of R21 million, a 75% increase.
Tracking company Netstar saw more modest revenue gains of 8.73% from R836 million to R909 million.
Its subscribers grew by 22% worldwide, with South African users growing 17% from 882 thousand to 1.03 million.
Despite this growth, Netstar’s operating income and EBITDA took a knock, decreasing by 28% and 3.85%, respectively.
Altech explained that Netstar was affected by higher costs caused by load-shedding, higher device costs due to a weakening rand, and the cost of “re-platforming” the business.
ALSO PAY: Gold Fields gets inspiration from Toyota to boost profit.
This investment will help improve customer service, retention, and internal efficiency, Altron stated.
“The conflict in Ukraine and the prolonged macroeconomic effects of the pandemic have influenced the shape of local and global economic recovery,” Altron reported.
“A surge in general inflation driven by increased fuel prices, the effects of the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the increased frequency of load-shedding have all contributed to the decline of an already fragile local economy.”
“Notwithstanding these challenges, the Group’s Continuing Operations have executed well in a robust industry.”
Altron’s board declared an interim dividend of 16 cents per share. After withholding tax, the dividend becomes 12.8 cents net.
“The Board remains committed to maintaining Altron’s dividend cover of 2.5 times headline earnings on continuing operations,” the company said.
Source: My Broadband
