Trading Update and Radar Holdings Ltd Acquisiton

RNS Number : 1501B

Cambria Africa PLC

18 September 2018

 

Cambria Africa Plc

("Cambria" or the "Company")

Trading Update:

Payserv EBITDA up 42% to $3.5 million and PBT up 37% to $2.6 million

Millchem Zimbabwe EBITDA up $406,000

Acquisition of 7.83% interest in Radar Holdings Ltd (Radar)

Cambria is pleased to announce preliminary unaudited management results for its two core subsidiaries and the deployment of $1.6 million in cash to purchase a 7.83% beneficial interest in Radar Holdings Limited (Radar) by Paynet Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (Paynet), a wholly owned subsidiary of Payserv Africa Limited (Payserv).

For the FY ending 31 August 2018 Payserv achieved a PBT before minorities and restructuring costs of $3.3 million, a 49% increase from FY 2017.  After minorities and restructuring costs, Payserv remained with $2.6 million in PBT, up 37%.

Millchem Zimbabwe recorded its first full year profit in 4 years reporting a $406,000 turnaround in EBITDA to $209,000 from a loss of $197,000 in FY 2017.

Trading Update

Preliminary unaudited financial information for the year ended 31 August 2018 is presented below. The financial information has been extracted from the unaudited management accounts and could be subject to possible change following the completion of the Company's year-end audit process.

Results highlights for the period:

Payserv:

12 months ended 31 August 2018 (US$000's)                                     2018     2017     Change

Payserv Revenue                                                                                                 7,561      6,400        18%

Payserv EBITDA  - before minorities                                                             3,522      2,472        42%

Payserv PBT - before minorities & restructuring costs                             3,304      2,223        49%

Payserv PBT - after minorities & restructuring costs                                2,581      1,882        37%

Payserv achieved $7.56 million in revenues, an increase of 18% from the $6.40 million in 2017 on the back of a 14% increase in transaction volumes to 27.659 million. Their consolidated EBITDA for the year increased by 42% to $3.52 million from $2.47 million.

Millchem Zimbabwe:

·      $406,000 turnaround in EBITDA to $209,000 from a loss of $197,000 in FY 2017;

·      29% gross profit margin - a 53% improvement from 19% in FY 2017;

·      $1.87 million in revenues - a reduction of 16% from $2.23 million in FY 2017, but achieving a more profitable product mix;

·      $464,000 turnaround in PBT to $243,000 from a loss of $221,000.

Radar Acquisition

Paynet concluded the acquisition of an effective 7.83% interest in Radar for a purchase consideration of $1.6 million effective 31 August 2018 (Radar Acquisition). 

The Radar Acquisition was facilitated through the subscription by Paynet of 62.84% of the ordinary shares in AF Phillips (Pvt) Ltd (AF Phillips). AF Phillips holds a 15.6% interest in Hinshaw (Pvt) Ltd which, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, holds a 79.65% interest in Radar. Paynet will be entitled to nominate a Director to both the Radar Board and the Hinshaw Board. The Radar Acquisition was settled utilising Paynet's existing cash resources in Zimbabwe.

Radar is a public unlisted company incorporated in Zimbabwe with a track record dating back to 1978. It holds 100% of Radar Properties (Pvt) Ltd (Radar Properties) and 100% of Radar Investments (Pvt) Ltd trading as Macdonald Bricks. Radar Properties owns 2,166ha in prime development land in Zimbabwe and 8 residential properties. Macdonald Bricks is a brick manufacturer with the capacity to produce 91 million bricks per year. It has a dominant market position in the Matabeleland region in Zimbabwe.

Radar's most recent published consolidated results for the 6 month period ended 31 December 2017 reflected Net Asset Value of $31.5 million, Revenues of $3.3 million and Profit After Tax of $391,000.

The Cambria Board is of the opinion that Radar will be a direct beneficiary of any uptick in the Zimbabwe economy through its regional monopoly in brick manufacturing and its significant development land holdings. In addition, the Radar Acquisition creates the possibility to increase Cambria's investment in Radar should more shares become available in future.

The Company will give an overall trading update in due course once it has completed its consolidated results for the year ended 31 August 2018.

Contacts
Cambria Africa Plc:	www.cambriaafrica.com
Samir Shasha	[phone]
WH Ireland Limited:	www.wh-ireland.co.uk
James Joyce / Chris Viggor	[phone]

 

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