DURBAN - AFROCENTRIC Group yesterday reported a double-digit growth in earnings for the six months to the end of December, as it eyes the possibility of distributing Covid-19 vaccines.
The investment holding company that owns and operates a range of health-related enterprises, increased its headline earnings and headline earnings per share by 10.9 percent to R149.5 million and 26.03 cents a share, respectively.
Group revenue increased 25.3 percent to R3.90 billion.
Operating profit rose 16.5percent to R511.8m, boosted by its diversity, focus on growth, containment of costs and improved procedural efficiencies.
As a result, the group declared an interim dividend of 17c a share.
Its two divisions, the health administration and pharmaceutical cluster, both reported a double-digit growth in operating profit.
“The financial position of the group remains sound, and the group is sufficiently capitalised for immediate needs.
“Going forward, the group intends to continue to promote organic growth and will consider compatible further opportunities for both acquisition as well as innovation,” the group said.
Chief executive Ahmed Banderker said AfroCentric was pleased to report strong growth across its business, particularly given the difficult economic environment.
“They show that we are reaping the rewards of our steadfast focus on diversifying our business across the spectrum of client health needs, lowering costs through innovative techbased solutions and realising greater efficiencies in how we do business and deliver our offering.
“The last 12 months have been challenging, both locally and globally, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are therefore particularly proud that these results show that we have the right strategy in place, which has made our business resilient and is yielding immediate results and we remain excited about future prospects,” Banderker said.
In the group’s pharmaceutical business, revenue was up 48.6 percent, while operating profit increased 20.9 percent, boosted by the acquisition of the Denis Group.
The group acquired the Denis Group from EOH Abantu for R250m to diversify its offerings in the healthcare sector.
The health administration cluster, which is largely made up of the medical scheme administration business, increased revenue by 4 percent, in line with industry-related inflation of 4.4 percent, while operating profit was up 16.4 percent.
Looking ahead, Banderker said AfroCentric recognised that it had a pivotal role to play in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
“The group has a national network of more than 3 000 nurses that can be mobilised to administer vaccines across the country.
“It remains our strategic objective to deliver quality and affordable health management services to both the public and private health sectors.
“We are committed to transforming the health system and reducing the cost of health in South Africa through our highly diversified and efficient group of companies,” he said.
AfroCentric’s shares closed 2.08 percent higher at R4.90 on the JSE yesterday.
BUSINESS REPORT