AltX-listed technology group Ansys has completed its intensive acquisitive and consolidation phase to integrate and extend its offerings to its four target sectors, leading to positive results for the 13 months to March 31 and setting the group on a path of good organic growth during the current financial year.

The company, which shifted its year-end from February to March, had acquired and integrated Tedaka Technologies in 2014 and electronics engineering company Parsec Holdings and its subsidiaries in 2015.

“Ansys has gone through a successful period of acquisition and restructuring. The business has now been fully consolidated and has very good prospects for organic growth in the current financial year,” Ansys CEO Teddy Daka said at the group’s recent financial year-end presentation.

“This has not only yielded positive financial results, but has set Ansys apart as one of the upcoming technology companies listed on the JSE,” he added, noting that the consolidation positioned the group to develop, produce, distribute and integrate niche technology-driven engineering solutions.

Daka pointed to optimistic future prospects in rail, defence and information security and telecommunications, while the mining and industrial sectors were expected to remain subdued, but stable.

“Despite the projected weaker trading conditions in the South African economy, we expect better performance in the 2017 financial year,” he commented.

Ansys’s strategy of strengthening its four vertical markets in terms of market access and delivery capability opened “significant opportunities” for growth and was already paying off.

During the 13 months to March 31, Ansys improved its profit after tax to R22.8-million from R10.9-million in the 12 months to February 2015, augmented by the inclusion of Parsec for ten months.

Headline and basic earnings a share increased to 5.55c, a respective 25.1% and 35.6% rise on the prior year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased 123.9% to R42.7-million.

The firm’s tangible net asset value per share moved up from 10.4c in 2015 to 18.8c in 2016.

The group’s revenue for the year under review surged 88.8% to R474-million, owing to a combination of the Parsec acquisition and organic growth, said CFO Burt Lamprecht.

“This was a very successful year for Ansys,” he told shareholders at the presentation.

During the year and one month under review, the rail segment recorded revenue of R137-million, a 45.6% rise on the R94.1-million revenue achieved in the prior year.

Foreign exchange translation losses, a change in the product mix and delayed roll-outs by major clients had stifled profit, which had declined from R17.1-million in 2015 to R15.9-million in the 2016 financial year.