EOH’s interim earnings gain 36%

Strong organic growth and acquisitions helped EOH Holdings lift profit for the six months to the end of January by 36 percent.

Cape Town - Strong organic growth and acquisitions helped EOH Holdings lift profit for the six months to the end of January by 36 percent, on revenues that were up by 30 percent, the company said on Wednesday.

A statement from the outsourcing and information technology company that has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1998 said profit for the period was R464 million, up from R340 million in the corresponding period the year before.

EOH has expanded internationally and now has operations in more than 40 countries outside of South Africa but, the company said, it remained a strong South African company with sales in South Africa contributing 87 percent of revenue.

The rest of Africa accounts for 9 percent of total revenue, and the rest of the world, 4 percent. EOH acquired stakes in a number of businesses during the period under review, but noted out that organic growth contributed 54 percent of revenue growth.

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The strongest growth came from software sales: overall services revenue was up 28 percent, while software sales added on 87 percent. Revenue for the period came in at R6 billion, up from R4.6 billion, but the company says it remained entrepreneurial despite its size.

Headline earnings per share were up by 24 percent, from 290 cents to 359 cents. Eyes are not focused entirely on the bottom line, however, with chief executive Asher Bohbot noting that the company “is committed to transformation - and has the highest BBBEE rating of its peers”.

The statement pointed to other positive measures, including youth development and job creation.

Saying “EOH believes that youth development is paramount to a prosperous South Africa”, Bohbot pointed to the company's corporate social investments, which include a youth job creation initiative; financial support for the Maths Centre, which focuses on teaching mathematics, science, technology and entrepreneurship; and support for the township-focused child and youth development programmes of Afrika Tikkun.

Tying neatly in with the company's stated philosophy “to attract, develop and retain the best people” EOH's learnership programme has trained more than 1 900 interns since inception in 2012, with more than 70 percent of them going on to permanent jobs at the company.

The statement added another 700 learners are participating in the 2016 programme and “we expect the number of participants to increase in the future”.

AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY