Reunert has lifted its total cash dividend per share by 12%, to 275c, on the back of a 9% increase in normalised headline earnings per share for the year ended 30 September 2012.
The JSE-listed technology and telecommunications group, whose brands include Nashua Mobile and Nashua Communications, lifted revenue by 7% to R11,7bn. Operating profit increased by 10% to R1,5bn.
Nashua, Reunert’s biggest subsidiary, grew revenue by 4% to R7,2bn in “quiet market conditions”.
Nashua Mobile, an independent cellular service provider, managed to perform “satisfactorily” in spite of the reduction in wholesale call fees between operators, which hit its least-costing routing business. It lifted its subscriber count by 6% to just under 900 000, but average revenue per user declined by 19% to R337/month.
“Although, as expected, revenue declined slightly, judicious cost control allowed operating profit margins to remain constant,” Reunert says of Nashua Mobile’s performance.
Nashua’s office automation business increased unit sales in a market characterised by “lacklustre demand and heightened competition”. Operating profit was adversely affected by the weakening in the value of the rand.
Nashua Communications was turned into a converged IT services player and merged with Nashua ECN on 1 October. At the end of the financial year, ECN was routing almost 3,5m business call voice minutes per day and, as a result, “delivered a pleasing result, both in terms of revenue growth and operating profit”.
Reunert’s share price was trading flat in midmorning trade on the JSE. The counter has added 18,4% over 12 months. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media
