Business Connexion's revenue up to R5,8bn

The technology company's headline earnings per share rose to 39c for the year to August from 17.3c last year. Revenue was up by 35.1% to R5.8bn and gross profit margins increased from 30.9% to 31.5% thanks to acquisitions of Canoa and some businesses of UCS‚ which have "exceeded expectations"‚ said chief executive Benjamin Mophatlane.

Business Connexion has also entered into an agreement to acquire privately owned technology management company Integr8 IT‚ part of the Integr8 Group for R126m.

The acquisition would provide Business Connexion with an entry into the mid-sized corporate market throughout South Africa and Africa‚ said Mophatlane.

In addition to that‚ Integr8 IT is expected to enhance the group's ability to win market share in the public sector‚ in the rest of Africa and in retail stores‚ where this acquisition will add to the services provided by its subsidiary CEB Maintenance.

Mophatlane said although the company had a "great year"‚ the market was still challenging.

"All key businesses performed well and remain profitable‚" he said.

The UCS division contributed about R1.1bn to group revenue with an operating profit of R116.9m while the Canoa division contributed R860.5m in revenue and R106.5m in operating profit.

"Both these performances are ahead of targeted forecasts on acquisition and demonstrate the synergistic benefits of the divisions within the group‚" said Mophatlane.

Business Connexion's international division reported revenue growth of 26.8% to R467.2m for the year‚ demonstrating the "exciting growth potential" in Africa‚ he said.

"The continued progress in Africa is pleasing with the group's operations across the continent maturing. This has translated into an improved and less volatile financial performance with the group taking market-leading positions in some key‚ high growth African economies‚" said Mophatlane.

With approved investments for setting up data centres in Nigeria and Kenya the group is well positioned to extend its cloud services to the rest of Africa. The company plans to expand into Ghana‚ Ethiopia‚ Angola and Zimbabwe.