JSE-listed Jasco Electronics’ financial position improved during the six months ended December, with further improvement expected during the second half of the year, as a result of the company’s three-year restructuring drive, which would draw to a close at the end of the 2014 financial year, Jasco CEO Pete da Silva said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a presentation on the company’s interim results, he added that the full benefits of the three-year restructure would then become visible from the 2015 financial year onwards.

During the first half of the 2014 financial year the company’s headline earnings and headline earnings per share increased by 6% to R7.5-million and 5.3c a share respectively.

However, as a consequence of once-off impacts and restructuring costs in the prior year and this period, earnings per share was down 51% to 4.9c, as opposed to 10.1c during the prior period.

On revenue level, most of Jasco’s businesses performed well and partly compensated for the high base of the previous period, which included the Lighting Structures and Telecom Structures businesses that were sold in the previous year.

Consequently, the group’s revenue decreased by 4% to R526.7-million, but, when excluding the revenue from the sold businesses, revenue on a like-for-like basis increased by 5%.

Meanwhile, group profit before interest and taxation decreased by 33% from R19-million in December 2012 to R12.8-million, mainly owing to once-off impacts and restructuring.

“We are pleased with the progress we have achieved during our restructuring. Although the current results were still impacted by the costs of restructuring and we have some remaining challenges to address, key growth levers are in place to ensure that the full benefits of our restructuring will come through in the 2015 financial year,” Da Silva said.

He pointed out that during the period under review, Jasco had managed to exit some of its noncore manufacturing activities, such as automotive, leisure and plugs, in line with its restructuring plan; however, the sale of cabling manufacturer and supplier Malesela Taihan Electric Cable (M-TEC) Electrical was taking longer than planned.

The group had also raised R55-million in January through the issuing of 72-million new shares in the company, with the funds to be used to reduce the company’s overdraft and to improve its debt to equity ratio.

The rights issue also introduced two new broad-based black economic-empowerment shareholders into the company, with a record in the security and telecommunications fields.

During the last six months of its restructuring, Jasco’s main focus areas would include addressing the company’s remaining nonperforming security business, as well as further developing its annuity business, Da Silva said.

“[Jasco will also] continue to drive negotiations to exit our investment in our associate M-TEC, settling the group’s AfroCentric preference shares and exiting noncore businesses in a systematic way. We will concentrate on improving the quality of the group’s earnings by completing the restructure programme, consolidating procurement and reducing inventory levels,” Da Silva said.