Good news for all from company feeling the pulse

AT A time when there is a lot of scepticism about official statistics, it is interesting to note what one reliable source of information about South Africa’s trade has to say. As a provider of automated solutions for the clearing and forwarding industry, JSElisted Compu-Clearing Outsourcing (CCL) is privy to the number of transactions that are processed by its clients. Its founder and chairman told investment analysts on the release of its latest figures last week that more than 50% of import and export shipments were facilitated by his company. Last year was a stellar year, said Garber. “Each month we saw a record number of transactions. Very often it was not only at a record level compared to the same month the year before, but was a best month ever.” That was until November. Then the slide began with a noticeable decline each month until recently. “The decline has bottomed out and I believe that we are in the process of turning the corner,” he told the analysts. CCL was started 25 years ago and listed on the JSE ten years ago. Its main asset is the software it has developed over all these years and investors clearly see it as a cash cow. Last week it became a talking point on the JSE when its share price rose an astonishing 30% on the day its results were announced. CCL plans to remain very SA-centric and opportunities to clone its innovative products elsewhere do not appeal to Garber. Ongoing improvement of the existing system and innovations for SA are his recipe. One area where he does see opportunity outside SA is in the provision of a service through the internet for forwarders to automate their airwaybills. Only 50% of airwaybills worldwide are automated and the identical document is used universally. “This is a product where we can use our expertise and provide the service through the web without having to open expensive offices overseas,” he said.