CLIVE THOMSON
Industrial brand management company Barloworld on Tuesday celebrated its seventy-fifth year on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and is one of only nine companies to have achieved this.
CEO Clive Thomson told Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the 75-year celebration that the company had remained strong through the years owing to its ability to change.
“A company should make the right decisions for the longer term. Pressure to produce results on a quarterly basis is often too much of a short-term focus by management teams,” he highlighted, adding that this pressure could result in companies making the right decision for the next quarter’s results, but the wrong decision for the next ten years of operating profitability.
Further, he noted that a company should be willing to evolve and adapt its business model to align with changes in the external environment. “You need to continually move into new business segments and exit businesses that are coming to the end of their product life cycle to remain relevant.”
Thomson explained that the JSE assisted companies in remaining sustainable and durable, though listed companies tended to be around for much shorter periods of time. “This is evidence of our ability to evolve, adapt and remain relevant and that our value proposition to our customer base remains fit for purpose.”
Barloworld, a distributor of leading global brands, provides integrated rental, fleet management, product support and logistics solutions, and operates in most emerging markets, with a presence in 24 countries around the world.
Thomson noted that the company would remain focused on growing the company organically, while looking at acquisitive growth and expanding its footprint on the international stage.
“It makes logical sense to expand where we already have a footprint, as we have people with knowledge of the local economies and regions, so it is most logical to expand in Africa, as well as in Russia and Europe.
“We are constantly on the lookout for acquisitions. Just over the last year, we made two acquisitions in the logistics and transport space, including KLL Logistics and Aspen Logistics. In the automotive business we made two acquisitions, including Union Motors – the Mercedes Benz Dealership in Nelspruit and the South Coast – and we a 51% stake in a company called Salvaged Management and Disposals,” Thomson pointed out.
In the six months ended March 30, Barloworld reported a 1% increase in operating profit to R1.8-billion.