Ansys records FY surge on Parsec acquisition

JSE-listed Ansys on Monday reported across-the-board double-digit growth for the 12 months to February 29, bolstered by the nine-month inclusion of technology investment group Parsec, which it bought in 2015.

Group headline earnings a share increased 11.5% from 4.44c in 2015 to 4.95c in the 2016 financial year, while basic earnings a share increased 20.8% to 4.95c in the year under review from 4.09c in the prior year.

During the year under review, profit after tax surged 93.7% to R19.4-million, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rising 90.4% to R36.3-million.

“Profitability has improved owing to both organic and acquisitive growth in line with the group's strategy of developing into an intellectual property-led engineering and technology solutions provider,” Ansys said.

The integration of Parsec, the acquisition of which was concluded in June 2015, had been largely completed during the period under review.

Revenue was up 66.7% to R418.5-million.

“The group's performance continues to reflect growth across the board. Our strategy to strengthen our four vertical markets and reduce concentration risk, as well as enhance our delivery capability, is paying off,” the firm noted.

Revenue for the rail segment grew by 26.4% to R118.9-million during the year to February, while profit dipped from R17.1-million in 2015 to R12.5-million in 2016, owing to a change in the product mix, delayed roll-outs by major clients and foreign exchange translation losses experienced in the last quarter.

The defence and information security cluster posted an increase in revenue and profit on the back of the Parsec integration, with revenue coming in 753% higher at R85.2-million and profit some 1 170% higher at R19.8-million during the year under review.

The addition of Parsec also boosted performance in the mining and industrial segment, which recorded a 1 591% rise in revenue to R35.7-million, with the segment swinging to a profit of R4.5-million in 2016, compared with a loss of R2.3-million in the prior year.

The telecommunications division also showed improvement on the integration of Parsec, with revenue growing 23% to R178.7-million. However, unforeseen forex losses of R6.7-million during the period from December 2015 to February 2016 resulted in profit for the division dropping from R7.1-million last year to R2.5-million in the year under review.

“In the short to medium term, we expect weaker performance of the South African economy with varying downward pressure on our four segments. Despite these challenging market conditions, we anticipate continued and improved performance in the next financial year.”

Ansys noted that, with the conclusion of the integration of Parsec, its four vertical markets had been strengthened both in terms of delivery capability and market access and provided the group with more opportunities for growth.