Jasco targets LTE growth
Listed ICT player, Jasco Electronics Holdings is targeting South Africa’s charge into Long Term Evolution (LTE) or “4G”, to further drive its ICT carrier business.
Shares in Jasco were stable at R1.38 in afternoon trade on the JSE.
On Thursday (7 February) the group reported an 11.8% rise in revenue to R552.1 million for the six months ended December 2012‚ but its operating profit before interest and tax declined 7.6% to R19 million, as the group pointed out that it is halfway through a restructuring programme.
Speaking at the group’s results presentation in Sandton, CEO, Pete da Silva, noted that all the major operators were in the process of rolling out LTE networks, adding that a number of business “on the outskirts” would also need to be upgraded.
“We play in that,” he said of establishments like shopping malls.
Da Silva highlighted that Jasco’s ICT Carrier won orders from five new blue-chip groups including 8ta and Cell C, adding that the group also has aspirations to “aggressively” enter the WiFi business, and the rooftop management business surrounding telecoms equipment and recievers.
Jasco’s clients in the telecom space include MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, Telecom Namibia, Neotel, Alcatel and Ericsson. Additional ICT related partners include Internet Solutions, Digicel, ZTE, and Nokia Siemens Network.
In the group’s latest results, ICT Carrier Solutions – which represents 48% of group consolidated revenue – increased earnings by 25% to R292.4 million.
In 2012, Jasco purchased ARC Telecoms, a player in converged voice and IP data. Da Silva said that, since its acquisition, ARC had delivered growth of 156%, albeit off a low base.
“We expect to see more growth there as we see more minutes added on,” he said.
Jasco’s Telecoms Structures business suffered a R1.7 million loss; however, da Silva explained that it experienced significant market changes which included site sharing by major mobile operators and a slowdown in infrastructure roll-out.
“The business model was changed to accommodate these impacts. The restructure was completed during the period,” Jasco said.
Da Silva added that Telecoms Structures had also recently signed a contract with “a big company in Mozambique”.
Overall, the CEO said he still has aspirations to make Jasco, a R1.5 billion turnover entity.
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