Spoornet and SAA were
star performers, writes
Leonard Neill
Leonard Neill
TRANSNET'S RESTRUCTURING campaign, including privatisation efforts, has paid off handsomely, with the state-owned transport utility turning in a R779 million profit for the year which ended on March 31, 2000, says Saki Macozoma, the outgoing managing director.
It was a remarkable figure to report, compared with a R476 million loss last year, he said, and represented a significant turnaround in the history of losses reported in recent years.
The group's turnover rose by R3 billion to R27 billion while profit from operations rose by 4,5% to
R2,3 billion.
The entire group showed improvements during the year, said Macozoma, with special emphasis on the performances of Spoornet and South African Airways. The latter recorded a R350 million turnaround while Spoornet showed an
R84 million profit against a R135 million loss the previous year.
Even its sectional facilities, Fast Forward and Autonet, which were still in the red, revealed marked improvements.
Fast Forward, the parcel delivery service, improved from a previous R276 million loss to a loss of R169 million, while Autonet, the road freight delivery unit, was on the verge of moving into a profit situation. Its previous loss of R74 million was reduced to R1 million loss in the latest financial year report.
Having reduced capital expenditure by almost half and revalued its assets to about R6 billion Portnet, the port management business, reported a slight 0,9% increase in net profit to R1,39 billion compared with R1,38 billion.
In this respect, Gloria Serobe, Transnet's financial director, says that Portnet's net profit for the year would have grown by more than R1,7 billion had it not been for the revaluation of assets. Depreciation costs had more than doubled and now represented almost 20% of total operating costs.
The positive impact of the transformation programme, however, assisted Portnet to secure its traditional role as one of Transnet's biggest profit earners.
Total turnover rose 12% to R4,48 billion and was 1,7% above budget, despite the economic slowdown in the first half, which was more than compensated for by an upswing in the second half.
The total number of containers handled in all ports rose 11% although shipping delays for containers was experienced in Durban where a combination of a rise in the influx of containers and the introduction of the new Cosmos container operations system put pressure on services there during the first half.
The number of containers handled at Durban during the second half of the financial year rose by 16% compared with the first half. During the second half 28% more containers were handled than in the same period of the previous financial year.
Overall, 1999 saw significant throughput records, says port authority chief executive officer Siyabonga Gama. Portnet's performance was achieved through the successful use of systems set in place to cope adequately with increased volumes.
The transformation programme has included the successful split of Portnet into separate port operations and port authority divisions, which allows increased focus on core aspects of the business, says Gama.
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