| Thu 15 May 2003, 15:25 | | Kairos adapts to mining charter with latest deal |
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Trade and Industry Editor
A BLACK economic empowerment consortium is to take a 26% stake in industrial holding group Kairos, CE Wouter van Deventer said yesterday.
He said most of the shares in the R6,1m deal would be acquired from his own company, Shefa Equity Holdings, and after the deal he would retain a 51% stake in Kairos.
The empowerment investor, who is not yet being named, would take a role both on the board and on the executive of Kairos. "They have paid a nonrefundable deposit for 10% of the investment, and we have an agreement that the deal will be finalised by February 28 2004," said Van Deventer.
He said the empowerment consortium had approached him in February last year, and the deal was attractive to Kairos, which does 75% of its business with the mining sector. "We are positioning ourselves as the preferred supplier to the mining industry. This will help Kairos fulfil its black economic empowerment targets, which are important to us for political, economic and social reasons."
Kairos reported a 35% boost in revenue in the year to February yesterday, with a rise to R61,9m from R45,7m. The previous year's net attributable loss of R6,7m was turned around, with a net attributable profit of R3,1m for the year to February 2003.
Headline earnings for the year to February were 1,5c a share, compared with a headline loss a share in the previous year of 2,7c. For the second year in a row, no dividend was declared by the company.
Van Deventer said that to some extent the figures had been distorted because in the previous year Kairos was forced to write off an outstanding loan of R21m, which he remained confident would be recovered. The money was lent to Buildtec, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands, for research into materials technology, such as the production of fire-proof doors.
Kairos' mining equipment business, which includes ventilation systems and survival chambers, enjoyed a 30,9% rise in revenue to R52m, while it saw a 250% jump in operating income to R4,9m.
Van Deventer said order books for this business were full for the next six months, with some exports to Australia. The Witbank Brickworks cannot meet demand, and the group is seeking to buy another brick plant.
May 15 2003 07:20:14:000AM John Fraser Business Day 1st Edition
Thursday
15 May 2003
