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Spescom Projects High Note For End Of First Fiscal Half
SPESCOM LIMITED
(Registration number 1987/001083/06)
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Share code: SPS ISIN: ZAE000017919
SPESCOM PROJECTS HIGH NOTE FOR END OF FIRST FISCAL HALF
APRIL 1, 2003 JOHANNESBURG: JSE listed multi-national technology innovator,
Spescom Limited, ended its current financial half-year on 31st March.
Preliminary indications reveal that the improved performance achieved in the
second fiscal half of last year has continued into the current first financial
half.
According to group financial director, Hilton Isaacman, in spite of difficult
economic and trading conditions during the period under review, the Spescom
Group will show a marked improvement in results for the six months ended 31
March 2003.
Isaacman says this improvement can be attributed to various factors including
Spescom"s investment in technology development as well as the group"s domination
of select South African market sectors.
"Globally there is a notable increase in the value of business being generated
from proprietary products. During the current financial year it is expected
that at least 50% of group revenue is expected to be derived from international
markets.
"The performance of the US Operations has increased when compared to the
corresponding period last year. We expect it to achieve its projected full year
revenue growth of 50% on the previous financial year," says Isaacman.
He adds that the Customer Contact Centre division in SA is expected to gain
momentum in the second half year.
"The second half year should also see the Voice Transaction Management channels
to market in the USA and Europe continuing to bear fruit, particularly with
regards to the OEM distribution agreement recently signed with Dictaphone
Corporation, to market Spescom"s voice recording products internationally."
Isaacman says that the Group is generating positive cash flow.
"Test and measurement activities, including broadcast solutions, continue to
serve a steady and large sustainable customer base. Several large long-term
contracts are currently in the roll-out phase, including Intelligent Line
Termination Units which are being deployed for British Telecoms in the UK, as
well as Remote Network Monitoring for Telkom in South Africa."
Commenting on the group"s debt profile Isaacman says that debt levels have
declined materially due to a stronger Rand coupled with improved cash flows.
"Reducing and restructuring group debt remains a high priority. Various
initiatives are being explored in this regard and discussions are taking place
with Spescom"s bankers with a view to agreeing to an acceptable repayment
programme," says Isaacman.
He concludes that the positive trend for the 6 month period under review, is
expected to continue for the financial year ending 30 September 2003.
About Spescom
Spescom is a multi-national technology innovator with direct operations in the
US, UK and South Africa.
The group is publicly listed on the JSE Securities Exchange SA (Spescom Ltd),
and on the NASDAQ OTCBB : ALTS.OB (Spescom Software Inc).
Spescom addresses the information and communications technology market providing
both products and solutions to connect to the network economy, as well as
enterprise software to manage information and knowledge.
Specifically, Spescom provides solutions in the areas of access network;
enterprise information management; multimedia transaction recording; broadcast;
customer contact centres; and test & measurement.
Spescom markets its products worldwide through appointed partners and
distributors under the eB brand for its enterprise software, and the DataVoicea
brand for its multimedia transaction recording solutions.
Spescom"s global customer base consists of multi-national organisations
including leading enterprises in the utilities, telecommunications,
transportation, financial, banking and insurance sectors.
Worldwide, customers include Siemens, British Telecoms, Network Rail (formerly
Railtrack), Lloyds of London, Barclays Bank, Abbey National Bank, WH Smith,
Caterpillar, Bechtel, AmerenUE, Entergy, Bombardier, Ocean Energy, Sempra
Energy, Telkom, SABC, Old Mutual, Eskom, Transnet, First National Bank.
For more information on Spescom, please visit www.spescomsoftware.com and
www.spescom.com
For further information contact:
Simone Farah
Spescom Corporate Communications Officer
Tel: +27 11 266 1701
Fax: +27 11 266 1553
Mobile: +27 82 410 1236
E-mail: sfarah@spescom.com
Or
Hilton Isaacman
Spescom Financial Director
Tel: +27 11 266 1705
Fax: +27 11 266 1553
Mobile: +27 83 625 5273
E-mail: hisaacman@spescom.com
or
Deirdre Blain
BLAIN & ASSOCIATES
Tel: +27 11 789-8548
Fax: +27 11 789-8567
Cell: 083-305 8859
Email: blain@iafrica.com
