JSE-listed information security specialist SecureData says its poor performance over the past 18 months is behind it. This follows a big management shake-up and restructuring.
The group on Wednesday reported a 71% increase in revenue to R464m in the financial year to July 2009. But net profit fell 36,2% to R5,7m on the back of foreign exchange losses and amortisation costs related to the acquisition of the UK’s MIS-CDS.
CEO Dean Brazier, pictured, says the acquisition of MIS-CDS proved to be more complex than he expected. But the business is now bedded down, he says. Brazier, who relocated to the UK in August last year, was forced to return to SA to fix problems he says were introduced in the local business in his absence.
A management shake-up saw SA MD Brett Parker leave the company. “We made radical changes to management, restructured the company and identified areas where we could make significant savings,” Brazier says.
Poor economic conditions in the UK have conspired to keep a lid on MIS-CDS’s business, which contributed R176m to SecureData’s revenues in the year.
Brazier says all of SecureData’s subsidiaries should improve their operating margins in the 2010 financial year. He says SecureData is hoping to increase the contribution that higher-margin services make to group revenue. Services currently contribute 23%. Hardware and software make up the balance, contributing 35% and 42% respectively.
Annuity revenue makes up 43% of the group’s revenue mix, with new business contributing the other 57%. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
Subscribe to our free daily newsletter