Johannesburg - Information and communication technology group Datatec posted a slight decline in interim earnings on Wednesday, hit by lower sales at one of its key units, briefly sending its share price lower.
The company said first-half earnings per share fell about 5 percent to 18.2 US cents from 19.2 cents and it maintained its full-year forecast for earnings of over 40 cents.
Datatec said its Logicalis unit, which focuses on infrastructure services, “experienced a reduction in sales as anticipated largely due to delays as a result of the Fifa World Cup in Brazil.”
Revenues for Logicalis were down 7 percent but overall group revenue rose 8 percent to $3-billion, lifted by a solid performance in its distribution unit, Westcon.
The company, which has a global network, gets about a third of its revenue from Europe and it said trading conditions were improving there.
“Despite the slowdown due to the Fifa World Cup, Latin America remains robust,” the company said.
Datatec also said it stood to benefit from the migration to cloud-based networks which was creating demand for its services.
Datatec's share price fell over 4 percent in opening trade before paring losses. It was flat at R53 at 07h37 GMT.
Reuters