Defence: Strategy boosts Denel’s profit

DENEL significantly boosted its net profit to R194 million because of a long-term turnaround strategy, the arms parastatal’s 2013/14 results revealed on Friday. Full-year net profit improved by 63 percent as its revenue grew by 17 percent to R4.58 billion, mostly attributable to a surge in exports. Half of Denel’s revenue came from developing and producing missiles and other defence items for export to regions such as the Middle East and Asia. It attained its largest-ever multi-year order book at R32bn to be executed over the next 10 years. “Denel has now returned to profitability on a sustainable basis,” chief executive Riaz Saloojee said. – Sapa