Alaris Holdings releases solid annual results for the year

Centurion, 19 September 2017. Local JSE AltX listed technology holding company, Alaris Holdings (Alaris), released their annual financial results on the 19^th of September. The continuing operations performed satisfactorily during the financial year, against the backdrop of a strong year last year and the strengthening Rand.

Highlights:

• Revenue from continuing operations increased by 21% from R132.1 million to R159.4 million.
• Normalised earnings from continuing operations decreased by 26% from R31.5 million to R23.4 million mainly due to the net foreign exchange loss in this period
• Net cash from operating activities of R13.1 million for the year.
• Repurchased a total of 40 million shares from Aucom management as part of the Aucom disposal transaction.
• Shares in issue (less treasury shares) reduced to 116.1 million at year end.

“Revenue from continuing operations increased by 21%, which was supported by the acquisition of COJOT.  Operations performed satisfactorily in a challenging environment and despite the stronger Rand.  All is on track with a focused IP strategy and the synergies between Alaris and COJOT.”, says group CEO, Juergen Dresel of the annual financial results.

Segmental Overview

Alaris Antennas designs, manufactures and sells specialised broadband antennas as well as other related radio frequency products. Revenue was up 5% and profit after tax increased from R33.9m to R34.9 million.

Alaris Antennas continued to be a leader in product innovation, adding 74 new products to its portfolio in the financial year to support future top line growth.  “To ensure that we remain agile and are able to adopt to our client’s needs in a quick and responsive way as the business grows, we have implemented various measures to ensure that our multi-disciplinary teams are working on a common goal to deliver high quality products”, Dresel remarks.

COJOT Oy is a Finnish based company which develops innovative broadband antennas to improve connectivity, coverage and competitiveness of radio equipment deployed to save lives and protect property. It contributed revenue of R36.3 million and profit after tax of R3.9 million. “A €1 million order from Europe was delayed and only received in June 2017, resulting in a lower than expected performance for the financial year ended 30 June 2017. This order will be delivered in the first half of the 2018 financial year, which will provide an excellent start to the year”, says Dresel.

Prospects

Alaris Antennas is diversifying territories and entering into new market segments where the Company’s core competencies find application. Management believes the business has significant potential for organic, as well as acquisitive growth where there is a complimentary opportunity in markets and products.

For Alaris Antennas, organic growth is stimulated and achieved through understanding customers’ needs and adding new innovative products to the portfolio.

A couple of projects are underway to improve Alaris’ operational scalability.

“The opportunities we have been involved in this past financial year have increased in size and relate to a wider geographical diversity. This supports our strategy of global growth and the diversification of our product portfolio” says Dresel.

Having the products designed locally by a team of engineers and manufactured at the Alaris premises in Centurion, distinguishes the business from value added resellers and makes Alaris competitive in the global market. This results in 86% of the revenue being received from exports.

COJOT is a customer intimate business where new product development is centered around the customer’s needs.

The business is complemented by partnerships with contract manufacturers and a professional service provider network to enable sustainable growth and continued impressive annual financial results. 

Investment into an inhouse accounting function, a standardised ERP and the planned CRM solution across the Group will further improve transparency and cohesive interaction between the various teams globally.

The Alaris and COJOT businesses are complimentary and the combined operations will allow existing customers to receive an improved service as well as an expanded product portfolio. “The integration of the sales capability and product portfolio of the COJOT and Alaris teams resulted in cross-selling of R2 million. Capitalizing on the synergies between the two companies, as well as cross-selling opportunities will remain a priority in the year ahead”, mentioned Dresel.

International expansion is an important part of the Group’s global strategy and management will remain on the lookout for further opportunities to increase the global footprint with specific focus on the United States.

For media related enquiries and interview opportunities with Alaris CEO, Juergen Dresel, please contact:

Sonja Balt

Alaris Holdings

E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Telephone: +27 11 034 5300