Industrial distributor Hudaco would be investigating further business acquisitions, following its record-breaking 2011 financial year results, CEO Stephen Connelly said on Friday.

Over the past 15 months, the company has committed to invest about R500-million in new businesses, acquiring mobile radio communication equipment distributor Global Communications, electronics security products distributor Pentagon and hexagon steel distributor Midrand Special Steel.

“We have the capacity to make further acquisitions and will be looking into it,” Connelly said at the company’s 2011 financial results presentation in Johannesburg.

The first six months of the financial year, which ended November 30, proved challenging for Hudaco, with two subsidiaries, Bearings International and Bosworth, underperforming.

“However, the improvement in performance of these two businesses in the second half of the financial period, as well as the performance of our news businesses contributed to strong recovery,” Connelly stated.

The company reported a 29% growth in turnover to R3.18-billion from R2.46-billion in 2010, while headline earnings grew to R324-million from R252-million in 2010, also representing 29% growth.

Hudaco’s profit for the year totalled R338-million, about 30% more than the R237-million for the previous year.

Connelly further said the company expected power tools and digital communication equipment sales to continue growing this year, while the automotive parts aftermarket would respond to the rise in consumer spending.

He added that Hudaco was optimistic about achieving continued growth into 2012.

“The weak rand typically leads to increased mining activity and manufacturing markets, while anticipated improvement in power and rail capacity can also contributer to mining and manufacturing projects picking up.”