Banele Ginindza
DIVERSIFIED investments holding company Ecsponent spread its tentacles wider in the 2014 financial year, entrenching it leadership in the field of umbilical stem cell harvesting and storage with the launch of its third brand in the sector, Salveo Swiss Biotechnologies, in partnership with the Swiss-based international parent company.
At the same time the company, made a series of acquisitions which added Ecsponent Botswana, Ecsponent Swaziland, Ecsponent Financial Services and Sanceda Collection Services to its offering.
In its annual report for the year to December, the group said that all of these businesses would provide the group with the key elements of its sustainable growth plan for the group’s financial services business.
Robust platform
“The period under review evidenced substantial growth towards increasing the subsidiary base and improving the robust platform of the group,” Ecsponent chief executive Terence Gregory said in the integrated report.
Sanceda was acquired as a going concern and was integrated into the financial services pillar of the group by year end. The business is strategic to the group.
Gregory said operating results of the group continued to improve during the period with total revenue increasing by 53.8 percent to R57.4 million, compared to R37.3m for the 2013 financial year.
Ecsponent is a financial services holding company, which specialises in capital growth in specific niche market sectors.
The group is structured into three pillars: financial services common monetary area; financial services rest of Africa and private equity.
Gregory said Ecsponent would continue to function as an investment holdings company that develops interests in operational subsidiaries, focusing on two primarily clusters – financial services (including related instruments) and private equity (currently the significant investment is in biotechnology).
Board chairman Richard Connellan said Ecsponent now had the ability to raise investment capital to fund growth and further acquisitions. As of May it had raised R142m worth of preference shares.
Ecsponent shares on the JSE ended unchanged at 15c on Friday.