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Unaudited Consolidated Interim Results for the six months ended 31 August 2022 and Dividend Declaration
ALTRON LIMITED
(Registration number 1947/024583/06)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Share code: AEL ISIN: ZAE000191342
(“Altron” or “Altron Group” or “the Company”)
Unaudited Consolidated Interim Results for the six months ended 31 August 2022 and Dividend Declaration
HIGHLIGHTS – Altron Group
– Revenue up by 15% to R5.3 billion
– Operating profit before capital items up by 57% to R255 million
– HEPS increased by 467% to 34 cents per share
– Net Debt: EBITDA 0.35x
– Group working capital reduced by R47 million to R1.6 billion
Year-to-date performance August 2022 August 2021* Change %
Revenue R5.3 billion R4.6 billion 15%
Operating profit before capital items R255 million R162 million 57%
Net profit after tax R96 million (R30) million 420%
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) 34 cents 6 cents 467%
Earnings per share (EPS) 24 cents (10) cents 340%
Interim Dividend per share 16 cents 7 cents 129%
HIGHLIGHTS – Continuing Operations
– Revenue up by 21% to R4.6 billion
– Operating profit before capital items up by 61% to R296 million
– HEPS increased by 242% to 41 cents per share
– Capital expenditure decreased by R4 million
– Operating free cash flow increased by R103 million up by 136%
Year-to-date performance August 2022 August 2021* Change %
Revenue R4.6 billion R3.8 billion 21%
Operating profit before capital items R296 million R184 million 61%
Net profit after tax R144 million R42 million 243%
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) 41 cents 12 cents 242%
Earnings per share (EPS) 37 cents 10 cents 270%
* Comparative information has been restated for the investment in Arrow and UAE no longer considered
to be held-for-sale
CONTINUING OPERATIONS
The conflict in Ukraine and the prolonged macroeconomic effects of the pandemic have
influenced the shape of local and global economic recovery. A surge in general inflation driven by
increased fuel prices, the effects of the floods in Kwazulu-Natal and the increased frequency of loadshedding
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.
The Own Platforms segment recorded revenue of R1.63 billion, demonstrating a 16% improvement on
prior year. Netstar’s revenue of R909 million is 8.7% up from prior year, however a change in sales mix
and increased GSM costs to counter the impact of blackouts due to loadshedding has had an adverse
impact on profitability. Altron FinTech’s revenue of R542 million is 35.5% up on prior year, while operating
profit of R132 million grew by 71.4% reflecting enhanced margins. Altron HealthTech’s (“HealthTech”) revenue of
R176 million is 9.3% ahead of prior year. A reduction in switching transaction volumes due to lower patient
visits to doctors and pharmacies as well as the adverse impact of loadshedding on doctors’ operating hours both
contributed to a broadly flat operating profit of R43 million for the HealthTech business.
The Digital Transformation segment’s revenue of R1.37 billion, which includes the contribution of
Lawtrust, acquired on 1 October 2021, is up 25.7% from prior year with operating profit of R71 million
representing a growth of nine times compared to the prior year. Altron Systems
Integration (“ASI”) delivered a 6% improvement in revenue to R933 million and a modest breakeven
operating profit of R2 million a result of customers’ reduced capital expenditure, global components
shortages giving rise to prolonged lead times as well as a backlog in hardware sales. Altron Karabina’s
software sales delivered a significant performance contributing to the R171 million revenue and operating income
of R11 million which is an improvement of 11% and 175% respectively compared to prior year. The high licence and
software sales attributed to Altron Security’s exceptional performance, tripling its revenue to R266 million
and growing its operating profit of R58 million six times compared to prior year.
The Managed Services segment achieved revenue of R1.36 billion, which is 16.6% ahead of prior year,
whilst generating an operating profit of R21 million compared to a R9 million loss in the prior year.
Altron Managed Solutions’ revenue of R900 million is 17% ahead of prior year and operating income of
R19 million is up from its prior year loss of R5 million. Revenue of R458 million generated by
Altron Nexus is 15.7% up against prior year and while the delivery of an operating profit of R2 million
demonstrated the green shoots of the turnaround focus for this business.
Within the segment Other, Altron Arrow’s (“Arrow”) revenue of R321 million reflected a 26.4% improvement on
prior year, driven by higher component sales created by the global shortages and the Enterprise Computing
Solutions (“ECS”) software business. Arrow’s strong revenue performance has resulted in the expansion
of profitability with operating income of R21 million, 75% ahead of the prior year.
Discontinued Operations
Altron Documents Solutions revenue of R558 million is ahead of prior year by 11.6% while its operating
profit of R10 million is ahead of the prior year’s breakeven position. Altron Rest of Africa’s revenue is
ahead of prior year by 2.8% and its operating loss of R52 million is below prior year by 333.3% as a result
of operating losses within the region.
INTERIM DIVIDEND
The Board remains committed to maintaining Altron’s dividend cover of 2.5 times headline earnings on
continuing operations. The interim dividend has been calculated on the current continuing operations
HEPS for the 6 months ended 31 August 2022.
As such, a gross interim cash dividend of 16 cents per share (12.8 cents net of 20% dividend withholding
tax) has been declared for the financial half-year ended 31 August 2022, payable to shareholders
recorded in the register of the Company at the close of business on the record date appearing below.
The Board has confirmed by resolution that the solvency and liquidity test as contemplated by the
Companies Act, No. 71 of 2008, as amended, has been duly considered, applied and satisfied. This is a
dividend as defined in the Income Tax Act, No. 58 of 1962 and is payable from income reserves. The
income tax number of the company is 9725149711.
The number of ordinary shares in issue at the date of this declaration is 410 564 940 including
32 287 468 treasury shares.
The salient dates applicable to the interim dividend are as follows:
DIVIDEND DATES
Last day to trade cum dividend Tuesday, 8 November
Commence trading ex-dividend Wednesday, 9 November
Record date Friday, 11 November
Interim Dividend Payment date Monday, 14 November
Share certificates may not be dematerialised or re-materialised between Wednesday, 9 November 2022
and Friday, 11 November 2022, both days inclusive.
OUTLOOK
Management expects the ongoing challenges facing the industry including the global components
shortage, national blackouts, inflationary and currency pressures to continue to have an impact on the
Own Platform and Digital Transformation segments. Despite the anticipated impact of these well documented
challenges, we expect a solid second half performance with the majority of our businesses largely
continuing to trend positively, with the Group’s robust balance sheet expected to be further strengthened.
FURTHER INFORMATION
This short-form announcement is the responsibility of the directors and contains forward-looking
statements that relate to Altron’s future operations and performance. Such statements are not intended to
be interpreted as guarantees of future performance, achievements, financial or other results. They rely on
future circumstances, some of which are beyond management’s control, and the outcomes implied by
these statements could potentially be materially different from future results. No assurance can be given
that forward-looking statements will be accurate; thus, undue reliance should not be placed on such
statements. Altron does not undertake any obligations to update publicly or release any revisions to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of publication of this report or
to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.It is only a summary of the information contained in the
full announcement and does not contain full or complete details Any investment decision should be based
in the full announcement which is available at:
https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2022/jse/isse/aele/h1fy22.pdf and which is also available on our
website at: https://www.altron.com.
Copies of the full announcement may also be requested from Mbali Ngcobo at mbali.ngcobo@altron.com.
For and on behalf of the Board.
Mr. S van Graan Mr. W Kapp Mr. N Bofilatos
Chairman Group Chief Executive Chief Financial Officer
Registered office
Altron Campus, 20 Woodlands Drive, Woodlands Office Park, Woodmead, Gauteng, South Africa, 2191
Sponsor
Investec Bank Limited
Transfer secretaries
Computershare Investor Services Proprietary Limited, 1st Floor, Rosebank Towers, 15 Biermann Avenue,
Rosebank, 2196
Directors
Mr. S van Graan (Chairman), Mr. W Kapp (Group Chief Executive)*, Mr .N Bofilatos (Chief Financial
Officer)*, Mr. A Ball, Mr. B Dawson, Mr. GG Gelink, Dr. P Mnganga, Mr. S Sithole (Zimbabwean), Ms. A Sithebe,
Mr. RE Venter, Ms. S Rapeti, Mr. T Ngara (alternate to Mr A Ball)
*Executive Director
Interim Group Company Secretary
Ms M Ngcobo
24 October 2022
Johannesburg
Date: 24-10-2022 07:05:00
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