JSE-listed Jasco on Thursday reported an 11.8% rise in revenue during the six months to December, mostly owing to market-share growth within its three newly restructured vertical businesses.

The information and communication technology (ICT) company reported revenue of R552.1-million during the first half of the 2013 financial year, up from the R493.9-million recorded in the corresponding period in the prior year.

Speaking at the group’s interim results presentation in Sandton, CFO Warren Prinsloo said Jasco achieved a 20.7% higher profit for the year, from R11.3-million during the six months to December 2011, to R12.6-million during the period under review.

The group’s earnings a share rose 56% to 10.1c on the back of an R8.8-million profit on the disposal of the company’s head office property.

However, headline earnings a share fell 27.1% from 6.9c in the first half of the 2012 financial year, to 5c in the first half of the 2013 financial year, owing to the underperformance of Jasco associate M-Tec and a R4.4-million loss on the sale of the ICT company’s loss-making Lighting Structures unit.

CEO Pete da Silva said that all Jasco’s nonperforming divisions were being dealt with, which included the disposal of loss-making or noncore business units, individual restructuring and investment reviews, as the group reached the halfway mark of its three-year group restructure.

Jasco sold its 50.5% stake in Lighting Structures, which formerly operated under the banner of the group’s Energy Solutions vertical, to LeBlanc in December.

Lighting Structures recorded revenue of R30.8-million during the first half of the year - a 43% decrease compared with the R53.9-million earned in the corresponding period the year before, owing to a lack of orders from its largely municipal customer base.

The Electrical Manufacturers unit, also under Energy Solutions, reported 7% higher revenue for the six months under review – reaching R71.5-million as orders from the white goods market increased.

Revenue from associate M-Tec decreased 19% from R426.9-million in the six-month period under review, owing to project delays at M-Tec’s major client, resulting in a R100-million decrease in aluminium conductor volumes.

Jasco’s after-tax share of equity income fell to R800 000 in the first half of 2013, compared with R4.9-million in the first half of 2012 – an 84% decline.

“Although M-Tec’s operational management did improve, this investment has been placed under review,” Da Silva pointed out.

Meanwhile, ICT Solutions’ Carrier unit, contributing about 48% of group revenue, reported a 25% increase in revenue. The unit generated R292.4-million of revenue in the first half of the 2013 financial year, compared with R234.7-million in the corresponding period the year before.

Da Silva noted that, with the exception of Telecom Structures, the Carrier division reported market share increases across all sectors and won orders from five new blue-chip clients, including Cell C, 8ta and Sentech.

“Telecom Structures experienced significant market changes, which included site sharing by major mobile operators and a slowdown in infrastructure roll-out. The restructure in Telecom Structures will ensure a gradual turnaround of this business,” he said.

ICT Solutions' Enterprise unit – generating 20% of group revenue, reported revenue of R96.7-million in the first half of the year, a slight rise from the R95.9-million generated in the corresponding period the year before.

Further, Jasco expanded the ICT Solutions vertical to include three new business sectors, comprising low-voltage uninterrupted power supply systems, rooftop property investment management and Wi-Fi applications within shopping centres and malls to ease the strain on the mobile operators’ networks.

The Industry Solutions segment added R81.2-million to Jasco’s revenue as the company included the Power Solutions unit for the first time and achieved improved sales in its Fire Solutions business. This represented a 35% increase compared with the R60.4-million revenue reported during the six months to December the year before.