| Tue 10 Jul 2001, 0:00 | | Combined Motor Holdings Ltd. And Wesbank Joint Ven |
|
Press Release
The respective boards of directors of Combined Motor Holdings Ltd. (CMH) and
Wesbank, have concluded a Joint Enterprise agreement between the two
companies effectively creating a new finance enterprise to serve the
interests of the large CMH group and its customers.
The Joint Enterprise will be known as CMH Finance and will be managed by a
board of senior personnel drawn from both companies.
Following the excellent results for the year ending 28/2/01, and the
resultant publicity in the major financial press, CMH Group MD, Mr. Jebb
McIntosh was quoted as saying that details of a pending joint venture with a
major bank would be released within three months. Mr. McIntosh is now
pleased to announce, a mere two months on, that this partnership with
Wesbank, creates significant new profit opportunities for the two companies.
Mr. Ronnie Watson, CEO of Wesbank said, "This exciting new partnership,
which does not conflict with Wesbank's existing manufacturer joint venture
relationships, further cements the groups' longstanding relationships which
date back some 100 years. Given the respective strengths that both parties
bring to this arrangement, I have no doubt as to its future financial
success."
CMH Group Chairman, Mr Maldwyn Zimmerman, speaking at the annual general
meeting in April, said that the new profit opportunities resulting from this
partnership would be created without the addition expenses to the finance
and insurance infrastructure of CMH. The CMH Group generates in the order of
R1 billion retail financeable business annually, and the new venture with
Wesbank, the leading financial institution in this market, would ensure that
a meaningful proportion of the profit opportunities flowing from this
business would be retained in the joint venture. The positive impact of this
would only flow through to the bottom line from year two onwards.
Additionally the achievement of this incremental profit comes with no
downside risk to CMH and without unduly affecting the arrangements with
existing discounting sources.
CMH founded in 1965 was listed on the JSE during 1987 and trades under the
"Industrial Retail" section. The company's business is that of an investment
holding company for the Group, providing centralized control over the
strategic planning, finance and administration of its subsidiaries., Through
its subsidiaries the group has significant interests in the retail motor
sector, holding franchises for the sale of Opel, Isuzu, Nissan, Nissan
Diesel, Fiat, Alfa, Ford, Mazda, Lada, Jaguar, Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Volvo,
BMW and Land Rover. In addition to the financial services, the Group also
owns. National Car Hire and offers full maintenance leasing and various
insurance products through its own insurance cell.
The year to February was the fourth consecutive year in which CMH generated
real growth in earnings in excess of 20 percent.
