Bidvest Group Limited

Office and Print

STATURE

Divisional confidence in the future is closely linked to the strength of our brands and the performance of the South African economy.

Waltons has been a trusted office product supplier for over 65 years. Cecil Nurse has been number one in office furniture even longer. Kolok is the country’s largest distributor of Hewlett Packard and other leading IT consumable brands. Konica Minolta has been the number one supplier of office machines in South Africa since 2011 and the number one supplier of colour machines for 11 consecutive years. Each business is either sector leader or a major player.

The companies in the portfolio can be viewed in four clusters – Office Products, Office Furniture, Technology and Data, and Print and Packaging. These create a division that is well placed to meet corporate needs for all office, print, electronic communication and packaging requirements.

MANAGEMENT

Our people are self-reliant, accountable and entrepreneurial. This creates its own energy. Business heads range across age groups with a successor generation already taking shape. An attitude of performance and growth is shared across all businesses. Management teams are proactive and always alert to new developments that deliver value.

VISION AND INNOVATION

We are forward looking and not afraid of change. When radical revisions to the business model are necessary we do not hesitate to make them. Innovation never stops. We bring customers the latest developments.

We work in traditional industries like printing, as well as in sectors like electronic communication, office automation and software development that harness the latest technology.

Customers who migrate across technology sets find we are in step with them – the move from traditional to electronic mail is one example.

We do not just stock business forms and furniture, we stock solutions.

NEW FOCUS

The logic of combining Bidvest Office and Bidvest Paperplus was compelling and was seamlessly achieved. Renewed growth is clearly the focus. It spells opportunity and teams are excited by that.

Bidvest teams traditionally achieve efficiency through closeness to each business and industry. Further gains can be unlocked by defining focus areas that are specific to each business such as cost structures, customer service, margin management, contract retention and acquisitions – then pursuing action plans in each such area.

TRANSFORMATION

Transformation has never been a compliance-driven activity at our businesses. Growth is driven by your relevance to your markets. We ensure continuing and growing relevance by committing sincerely to the work of transformation and the task of making sustained progress across all elements of the B-BBEE scorecard.

Our commitment pre-dates BEE legislation and the new amended codes. Sustained empowerment progress is not a tick-in-a-box exercise, it is your licence to trade.

The amended Codes of Good Practice are more rigorous and ratings came under pressure, in common with most large businesses. Work will be stepped up to address these challenges.

We continue to make progress in the advancement of women and black managers, but further effort is needed.

Skills transfer remains a priority. Training spend for the year was R38 million.

Transformation to environmentally friendly solutions is ongoing. Many of our businesses contribute to the green economy, and Konica Minolta has maintained carbon neutral status for three consecutive years.

Business evolution continues. Simplification of business models, where applicable, was and will continue to be a key focus area.

CONTINUITY

We are results driven and efficiency focused. These attributes are deeply engrained and will continue to shape our business. Another heritage factor is our adherence to Bidvest values of decentralisation, autonomy and genuine accountability.

Results focus does not mean short termism. The Bidvest way is simple. Do the right thing for the business.

INDUSTRY CONTEXT

Corporate South Africa remained under pressure. Customers demanded value and solutions that contributed to their own efficiency. Margin management and expense control became and will continue to be critical.

KEY FEATURES

Contribution to Group trading profit

12%

• Teams returned solid underlying results despite losing the contribution of Océ (sold late last year). A major voter registration contract in Lithotech also boosted the previous year’s results.
• Revenue reached R10,1 billion (2015: R10,6 billion). Trading profit of R706 million was recorded (2015: R742 million).
• Waltons maintained market leadership and the simplification of business processes will remain a focus. Kolok, Silveray and Cecil Nurse performed well.
• Bolt-on acquisitions at Kolok and within the print arena have bedded down well. The acquisition of nVision IT was completed and provides a vehicle for specialised software development and integration.
• Konica Minolta retained a major public sector contract and performed well.
• Good growth was seen in the print and packaging areas.

• Client retention across all companies was generally good.
• Waltons achieved a level 2 empowerment status under the new codes.

YEAR AHEAD

Economic conditions will remain challenging. Office and print will focus on simplifying the business model to enhance customer service. Efficiency efforts will continue and acquisitions in niche areas will always be explored.