Technology group Altron says it has made strong advances in terms of its black economic empowerment (BEE) and acquisition programmes and that much emphasis has been placed on the group meeting the anticipated requirements of the BEE charter for the information, communications and technology (ICT) sector.
Reviewing the past year in the group’s annual report for 2004, Altron chairperson Bill Venter said: “Altron reported another set of satisfactory results for the year ended February 29 2004 despite some adverse economic conditions both locally and abroad. Strong advances were also made in terms of its black economic empowerment and acquisition programmes.”
Venter said the group continued to focus on increasing shareholder value through tighter cost controls, improved customer resource management and enhanced efficiencies, as well as annuity-based income, value-added services and high-growth opportunities.
“Despite the numerous challenges we faced during the year under review, such as a volatile and stronger rand, competitive imports and significant exposure to rising commodity prices, our balanced portfolio of operations enabled us to show strong resilience to these and other market pressures. The strong rand has further afforded us the opportunity to invest in capital equipment, which will improve our overall competitiveness,” he added.
He said Altron has continued to deliver on its BEE and acquisition policies and much emphasis has been placed by the group on meeting the anticipated requirements of the BEE charter for the ICT sector. During the period under review, the Altron Transformation Vision 2010 document was presented and unanimously approved and adopted by the Altron, Altech, BTG and Powertech boards.
“In this regard, we recently announced significant BEE transactions, which included the disposal of 27% of BTG (South Africa) to Kagiso and the sale of 30% of Aberdare Cables by Powertech to the Izingwe Consortium. Altech completed its acquisition of NamITech and through this acquisition and a newly acquired interest in Altech Data, Pamodizi, a large black-controlled investment holding company, has acquired a significant stake in these Altech operations,” said Venter.
He said Altron’s strong balance sheet — and having exceeded cash levels of R2-billion for the first time by year end — positions the group to show good growth in contrast to difficult trading conditions being experienced in many other industries. — I-Net Bridge