CAPE TOWN – Majority black-owned and black-controlled investment holding company African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) remained on a positive trajectory, delivering sterling annual results with revenue rising 22 percent to R701 million.
The company said in a statement on Monday that the consistent increase in earnings and asset growth during a period of ongoing economic and macro-environmental volatility, clearly demonstrated it’s efficient and resilient business model.
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AEEI’s group chief executive Khalid Abdulla, who presented the results at the Radison Blu Hotel in Cape Town on Monday, said the company intended to continue on improving its financial performance, while driving sustainable returns for its stakeholders.
“We have been fortunate to meet our annual our targets as set out in the Group’s Vision 2020 Vision strategy, which is in partly due to the commitment and dedication of our highly skilled and experienced teams throughout the business,” said Abdulla.
- AEEI’s group revenue increased by 22 percent from R577 million to R701m mainly due to significant revenue growth achieved from the fishing and brands division.
- Group earnings also grew 946 percent from R477m to R4.992 billion. This was attributed in part to the strong performance of the overall operations, but also due to the deemed disposal of a group subsidiary which created shareholder value.
- Earnings per share increased by 946 percent from 97.10c to 1 016.01c and normalised headline earnings a share increased by 142 percent from 10.37c to 25.09c for the year under review.
- Profit before tax increased by a healthy 852 percent from R631m to R6.01bn with strong returns from the group’s diversified portfolio and the gain on the deemed disposal which created significant shareholder value.
- Total asset base increased significantly by 164 percent from R2.8bn to R7.4bn, mainly due to the operational growth and the value unlocked by the separate listing of the fishing and technology divisions, as well as the steady increase in its other underlying investments as compared to the prior period.
- Net asset value for the group increased by 277 percent from R1.3bn to R4.9bn with the net asset value per share increasing by 284 percent from 260c to 999.25 cents.
- With the solid financial performance derived from the underlying businesses, net cash generated from operating activities increased by 138 percent year on year from R73m to R174m.
Independent non-executive chairperson of the board Reverend Dr. Vukile Mehana congratulated Khalid and the AEEI team: “The financial year-end results tell the story of a group that is focused on ‘doing what they say’.
“For AEEI to be at the top of its game and remain there, it needs to have durable and resilient foundations. This is evidenced in the successive years of strong performance and the fact that many stakeholders actively seek it out. The group may have had its share of media scrutiny over this past year, however, the team remains focused and AEEI’s increased contribution to its shareholder value speaks volumes.”
Abdulla said, AEEI’s business model remained on a firm growth path, investing not only in other companies and market strategies, but in its own employees.