Operational review South Africa

  • Successful restructure into 10 focused divisions
  • Pleasing revenue and profit growth in the face of challenging conditions
  • Depth of internal talent confirmed as senior positions in an expanded structure are filled by Bidvest managers
  • Capital expenditure of R1,63 billion as ‘refreshed’ business invests in South Africa’s future

Realignment into 10 focused divisions was successfully implemented. Performance was mixed, reflecting a patchy, hesitant recovery and ongoing weak demand in construction and hospitality. Freight and Rental performed strongly, Travel staged a good recovery, Automotive optimised opportunities and Paperplus and Services coped well. Banking operations showed good growth. All teams showed resilience, driving revenue 14,0% higher to R59,0 billion (2010: R51,8 billion), while trading profit reached R3,4 billion (2010: R3,1 billion).
The division includes a variety of service and product offerings across South Africa.

 

Lindsay Ralphs
Chief executive

 

Revenue

R59,0 billion

14,0% increase

Trading profit

R3,4 billion

10,4% increase

 

  

 

Financial indicators
(for the year ended June 30)		 2011
R’m		 2010
R’m
Revenue 59 020,8 51 791,0
Trading profit 3 412,2 3 091,2
Operating assets 17 677,4 16 404,5
Operating liabilities 9 114,7 8 236,1
Depreciation 909,8 926,0
Amortisation and impairments of intangible assets 41,8 43,9
Goodwill and intangible assets 1 031,4 985,1
Sustainable development indicator overview    
Employees 83 900 84 789
Total training spend (R’000) 222 594 220 104
Training spend per employee (R) 2 653 2 596
Employees attending HIV/Aids training (%) 30,8 30,4
Lost-time injury frequency rate 4,7 4,4
Work-related fatalities (number) 9 3
BEE procurement (R’000) 21 654 250 14 924 292
CSI spend (R’000) 23 213 22 238
Enterprise development spend (R’000) 69 124 34 157
Total water usage (litres ’000) 1 850 674 1 834 966
Total electricity usage (including electricity from renewable sources) (kWh ’000) 183 405 183 778
Petrol (litres) 17 684 486 17 985 917
Diesel and biofuel (litres) 20 138 068 19 015 909
Total carbon emissions (tonnes) 316 219 324 196
Carbon emissions per employee (tonnes) 3,8 3,8

 

QUICK LINK: Operational report and historic sustainable development

Material issues

  • Recessionary conditions continue in the construction sector
  • Price resistance in business-to-business environment and retail
  • High levels of inflation
  • Health and safety training
  • Continued education on HIV/Aids
  • Rising energy and fuel costs
  • Challenge of developing black management at senior level