DIMENSION DATA |
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| Dimension Data is a leading global technology company
that provides solutions and services, which optimise and manage the
performance of IT infrastructure. |
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TRACKER |
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| Tracker’s core business is the sale and installation
of vehicle tracking systems and the tracking and recovery of stolen
vehicles. |
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FRONTRANGE |
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| FrontRange is a leading independent provider of
service management, communication and customer relationship management
applications designed specifically for the small and medium enterprise
and distributed enterprise markets. |
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IDION |
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| Idion provides solutions that assure the high availability
of a company’s applications and data. |
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COMMSCO/INTERVID MERGED ENTITY |
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| CommsCo is a provider of information and communications
technology (ICT) business improvement solutions and infrastructure
services in Southern Africa. Intervid is a specialist in technology-driven
risk and efficiency solutions, primarily through digital surveillance
technology, access control, monitoring and electronic article surveillance,
in an integrated manner. |
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FUNDAMO |
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| Fundamo is a leading global supplier of enterprise
software products for mobile payment and mobile banking solutions. |
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CUEINCIDENT |
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| Cueincident provides command control centres with
high-technology surveillance devices and cameras for the monitoring
of entire areas. |
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GENUONE |
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| GenuOne creates brand protection solutions that
provide its clients with world-class value chain systems. |
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VHF TECHNOLOGIES SA |
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| VHF develops and manufactures thin film amorphous
silicon solar cells on a plastic substrate. |
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$100 million convertible bond
7% equity interest |
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| Dimension Data Holdings plc (Dimension Data) is
a leading global technology company, that provides solutions and
services that enable businesses to plan, build, support, optimise
and manage their IT infrastructures. The company is listed on the
London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has a secondary listing on the JSE
Limited (JSE). |
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| Dimension Data applies its expertise
in networking, security, operating environments, storage and contact
centre technologies and its unique skills in consulting, integration
and managed services to create customised client solutions. The company
is a leader in the field of simplifying and consolidating IT infrastructures
through Internet Protocol (IP) convergence. |
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| In 2004, 32 of the top 100 listed companies
in the UK and 125 of the US Fortune 500 companies did business with
Dimension Data. With $2 billion in revenue and more than 8 600 employees
in over 30 countries, Dimension Data has a global footprint that
supports highly personalised, regional execution while leveraging
the domain experience and depth of a large company. |
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| In December 2002, VenFin subscribed
to a US$100 million seven-year convertible bond issued by Dimension
Data. VenFin has since acquired 93 970 485 shares in the open market,
representing a shareholding of 7% in Dimension Data. |
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| OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 31 MARCH
2005 |
| Dimension Data reported good progress
in the first half of 2005, with robust revenue growth and substantially
improved returns. The growth in revenue was fuelled by solid growth
in the company’s core network integration line of business and
excellent performance from the Solutions line of business, where
revenues increased by 43.6% over the first half of 2004. The Solutions
line of business, comprising converged communications, customer interactive
solutions (CIS), data centres and storage (DCS), operating environments
and messaging (OE&M), as well as security, which now accounts
for 28% of revenue, up from 22% in the comparable period. |
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| Dimension Data’s most significant
line of business is network integration, comprising 55% of group
revenues for the period. Network integration revenues grew by 6.5%,
supported by good demand in the company’s larger, multinational
accounts and effective sales execution, particularly in the UK and
the US. |
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| The Solutions business was established
to focus on high-growth markets where Dimension Data is well positioned
to compete. The excellent growth in Solutions revenue is the result
of continued good demand, focused execution, as well as the leverage
afforded by the company’s established global presence. |
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| Dimension Data received numerous awards,
including Cisco Global Partner of the Year, in recognition of outstanding
performance, commitment to technical excellence and customer focus. |
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BEE |
| Dimension Data sold 25.01% of Dimension
Data South Africa (DDSA) to a BEE consortium through a shareholder-facilitated
transaction. The consortium is made up of Andile Ngcaba (9.53%),
Safika (5%) and broad based BEE participants (10.48%). The 25.01%
interest in DDSA was valued at R380 million and was substantially
vendor financed, with the balance being funded by the BEE consortium
through a cash deposit of R23.9 million. Pursuant to the transaction,
Andile Ngcaba was appointed Executive Chairman of DDSA. |
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THE FUTURE |
| Despite some uncertainty prevailing
in the IT market segments in which Dimension Data operates, the company
continues to experience good demand. As a result Dimension Data is
confident that it can continue to deliver profitable growth. |
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31% interest |
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| As a leading player in the South African
stolen vehicle recovery industry, Tracker Investment Holdings (Proprietary)
Limited (Tracker) has a strong monthly subscription-based income
stream. Its core business is the sale and installation of vehicle
tracking systems and the tracking and recovery of stolen vehicles. |
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| Tracker’s contract partnership
with the South African Police Service (SAPS), in terms of which Tracker’s
technology is used to track and recover stolen vehicles throughout
South Africa, has proved highly successful and has enabled the SAPS
to improve significantly its service to the community. Since its
inception in 1996, more than 25 000 stolen vehicles have been recovered,
5 445 criminals arrested and 261 chop shops and vehicle theft syndicates
exposed. |
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| The product range currently comprises
Tracker Retrieve (basic stolen vehicle recovery system), Tracker
Alert (Retrieve plus an early alert enhancement) and Tracker Locate
(Internet-based monitoring system with stolen vehicle recovery capabilities). |
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| In addition to a satellite network,
Tracker uses its own dedicated radio frequency network, which it
continuously enhances to ensure the highest possible recovery rates.
Tracker currently has around 1 100 tracking computers installed in
police vehicles, helicopters and planes. It operates 28 of its own
support teams, while 49 border posts are equipped with tracking devices. |
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| Tracker has established a sound relationship
with LoJack, its US-based licensor. As part of a global family of
LoJack licensees, Tracker benefits from LoJack’s new product
development, while LoJack benefits from Tracker’s healthy annual
subscriber growth. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE YEAR TO 30 JUNE 2005 |
| More than 96 000 Tracker systems were
installed during the year to 30 June 2005, which is an 8% increase
on the previous year, while the subscriber base increased to 310
000 vehicles. Tracker currently installs about 8 000 units per month,
using its own and independently-owned fitment centres. |
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| During the year under review management
focused on the insurance industry as an important sales channel and
close relationships with insurers were established. Other sales channels
include dealerships, fitment centres and a national call centre. |
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BEE |
| In January 2005 Empowerdex calculated
a BB rating for Tracker’s BEE status. This rating recognises
the company as a satisfactory BEE contributor with effective BEE
ownership of 24.3%, held by Mineworkers Investment Company. |
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THE FUTURE |
| Tracker’s management believes
that they can achieve further subscriber growth during the next financial
year. The number of competitors in the stolen vehicle recovery market
is expected to increase even further, but management is confident
that Tracker can defend its leading position by maintaining its high
recovery rates and excellent customer support services. |
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| During July 2005, VenFin increased
its shareholding to 33.7% by purchasing an additional 1 128
Tracker shares for R12 million. |
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19% interest |
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| FrontRange Limited (FrontRange) is
a technology investment holding company listed on JSE Limited, and
its core asset is its 100% stake in US-based FrontRange Solutions
Incorporated. During the year ended 30 June 2005, VenFin invested
a further R63.6 million for an additional 8% in FrontRange, increasing
its interest to 19% at 30 June 2005. |
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| With its headquarters in Pleasanton,
California, FrontRange Solutions has direct operations in nine countries
and partners in 49 countries. FrontRange Solutions develops customer
relationship management software solutions that are used by more
than 130 000 companies and 1.7 million users worldwide to manage
a wide variety of business relationships and to provide exceptional
service. |
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| The company’s core and integrated
product sets include: |
- IT service management with Heat® and
ITIL® standards-based modules;
- infrastructure management for optimising the full lifecycle
of a company’s assets;
- communication management, including IP Contact Centre for
reduced telephony costs and increased agent productivity, streamlined
customer service and communications; and
- sales, marketing and relationship management with GoldMine® .
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| FrontRange Solutions’ products
are designed for small to medium-sized enterprises and distributed
enterprises. Its clients represent 44% of the Fortune 500 and 76%
of the FTSE 100, and include divisions of Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, Prudential
Securities, Électricité de France, Mack Trucks, Blue
Cross, Campbell Soup, Avaya, Bertelsmann Services, Bechtel Corp,
Bank of America, BMW and Turner News Network. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 30 APRIL
2005 |
| During the period ended 30 April 2005,
FrontRange Solutions continued to build on the revenue momentum of
the second half of its previous fiscal year. The quarter ended April
2005 represented FrontRange Solutions’ sixth consecutive quarter
of growth in licences and total revenue. A comparison of the results
for the ten months ended 30 April 2005 with the prior year showed
an increase in revenue of 12.3%, gross profit increase of 15.3%,
trading profit growth of 77% and a headline earnings increase of
104%. |
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| During the period ended 30 April 2005,
FrontRange continued with its product strategy, focusing on high-growth
markets and optimising its large installed base by producing multiple
applications on a single platform. It bolstered its senior management
team by making some new key appointments, and further accelerated
its sales and marketing activities. Improving the capacity of its
professional services team also received attention. |
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BEE |
| Notwithstanding the fact that FrontRange
is listed on the JSE, South Africa only represents 4% of the group’s
turnover. Two wholly owned BEE and a number of suitably qualified
BEE value added resellers are channel partners of FrontRange in South
Africa. |
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THE FUTURE |
| Several major releases, such as GoldMine
Enterprise Edition and Infrastructure Management modules, including
Patch, Asset and Compliance management, are planned for fiscal 2006.
The company also expects to start selling on-line hosted versions
of its products. In addition, FrontRange is focusing on expansion
opportunities in key markets such as Japan, South Korea and parts
of Latin America. |
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35% interest |
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| VenFin holds a 35.0% stake in Idion
Technology Holdings Limited (Idion), a technology investment holding
company listed on JSE Limited. Vision Solutions International Incorporated
(Vision) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Idion, through which Idion
provides solutions that assure the high availability of a company’s
applications and data. |
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| Vision’s product range – Orion™,
Orion Data Integrator, Vision Suite ® , OS Director, OS Data
Manager and Visualize™ – maintain the integrity and availability
of data and critical applications across multiple platforms, such
as OS/400, Linux, Windows and AIX (Unix). Orion™ is the industry’s
first multi-platform solution to support application and data availability
on additional IBM eServer platforms. |
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| Vision has offices in North and South
America, Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, with more than
2 000 customers and more than 10 000 licences around the world. The
company works closely with a worldwide network of channel partners
and supports a variety of industries such as banking, finance, government,
education, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, transportation
and telecommunications. Vision is also an IBM Premier Business Partner
and an IBM High Availability Business Partner. |
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| In addition to its technology offering,
Vision provides its global market with professional services, support
and training. It offers a world-class CustomerCare programme and
has a global network of approximately 140 partners. It maintains
strategic alliances with leading application and database companies,
including IBM, Misys, IBS, Intentia, Microsoft and Oracle. |
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| VenFin believes it can play an active
role in enhancing the value of Vision by providing strategic input,
necessary resources and introductions to sister companies and associates
within the broader VenFin group. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 30 JUNE 2005 |
| In 2004, Vision launched its core multi-platform
high-availability and data integration products with a dedicated
focus on the IBM eServer platform, while maintaining a proper balance
between its cost structure and revenues. During 2004, the company
also enjoyed its third consecutive year of headline profitability
and positive cash flows from operations. |
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| In April 2005, Vision completed the
acquisition of UK-based OS Solutions, a leading provider of advanced
systems management, disk and data optimisation solutions and small
to medium business (SMB) high availability for the IBM eServer iSeries
platform market. Through this acquisition Idion offers the most comprehensive
range of high-availability solutions, complementary systems and data
management software on the iSeries platform for SMBs as well as large
multinational corporations. |
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BEE |
| Notwithstanding the fact that Idion
is listed on the JSE, South Africa represents less than 1% of the
group’s turnover. Idion has appointed a BEE-owned value added
reseller as a channel partner in South Africa. |
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THE FUTURE |
| As part of its long-term growth strategy,
Idion will continue to invest in its Vision subsidiary in order to
strengthen the foundation for future revenue and profit growth. Idion
will also continue to assess the market and, where appropriate, additional
investment opportunities will be considered. |
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| Given the strength of the business
and the energy and capability of its people, Idion is confident that
it will emerge even stronger in 2005 as it realises its growth strategy. |
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46.1% interest |
COMMSCO AND INTERVID
www.commsco.co.za, www.intervid.co.za |
| CommsCo is a provider of information
and communications technology (ICT) business improvement solutions
and infrastructure services in Southern Africa. The company enables
competitive advantage for its clients by leveraging shared capacity,
improving efficiency and data security, and reducing risk and unnecessary
costs. CommsCo’s services focus on business process improvement
solutions, underpinned by outsourced services provided on CommsCo’s
ICT backbone. |
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| Intervid is a specialist in technology-driven
risk and efficiency solutions, primarily through digital surveillance
technology, access control, monitoring and electronic article surveillance,
in an integrated manner. Intervid operates in Africa, Australia,
the United Kingdom, the USA and the Middle East. |
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| Effective 30 June 2005, the entities’ shareholders
merged the two businesses to exploit the growing convergence of technologies
in the security/risk management and ICT fields. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 30 JUNE 2005 |
CommsCo continued to grow its client
base and annuity revenues during the year. A highlight was its participation
in a successful public private partnership with the Gauteng local
government, as part of the company’s public sector strategy.
For its financial year ended
31 March 2005, CommsCo grew revenues
by 38% compared with the previous year. |
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| Intervid made good progress with its
turnaround during the year, particularly in respect of cost management
and cash conservation as the various international operations achieve
or move towards break-even. Net cash utilised by the group dropped
by 88% from R105.7 million to R12.6 million. Highlights during the
year include: |
- Intervid Australia concluding its
first large gold mining project;
- selling the UK operation, ID Technology, to management while
retaining an option to buy back into the business in the future;
- expansion by Intervid Africa into the gaming industry, and
continued strength in the mining industry; and
- Intervid delisting during the year and becoming a wholly owned
subsidiary of VenFin.
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BEE |
| The merged business understands the
business imperative of meaningful black economic empowerment within
South Africa. BEE is a strategic driver of the business, with strong
focus on both internal transformation and direct ownership initiatives. |
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| The merged business is 50% black-owned
by investment companies Circle Capital Ventures and Ehlobo ICT. |
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THE FUTURE |
| The immediate focus is on a successful
integration of the two businesses, prior to addressing longer term
merger objectives and benefits. |
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| In the short term, Intervid’s
traditional business becomes “ICT-enabled”, a prerequisite
for sustainably competing in the “converged” market of
the future, while CommsCo’s traditional ICT offering is enhanced
through new security and efficiency application possibilities as
well as increasing activity on CommsCo’s investment in ICT network
infrastructure and service platforms. In time, running across a secure
data backbone, the merged business will be able to offer its clients
broader and more innovative solutions within the integrated risk
management and security space. |
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43.1% interest |
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| Fundamo (Proprietary) Limited (Fundamo)
is a leading supplier of enterprise software products for the provision
of mobile payment and banking solutions. Fundamo licenses its software
to banks and mobile operators. |
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| The Fundamo technology is used in many
applications, including person-to-person payments, payments in retail
environments, purchasing of airtime and also business-to-business
applications, for example, mobile payments for the delivery of goods
such as beer and cement in Africa. Fundamo’s technology currently
manages millions of mobile payment transactions, ranging in value
from as little as R5 to as much as R500 000. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 30 JUNE 2005 |
| During the past year Fundamo once again
succeeded in growing its revenue. The company expects to reach profitability
in the 2005 financial year. Large mobile payment deployments, with
the potential to substantially impact on markets in Africa, were
delivered during the year and are currently in production. The Fundamo
technology was upgraded to scale in view of the projections of transaction
volume ten times higher than those currently experienced. Its capacity
to deploy large-scale solutions and to provide mission-critical support
was also improved over the past year. |
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| The launch of MTN Banking, primarily
based on the Fundamo technology, is a testimony of this. |
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BEE |
| Fundamo was an active participant in
the ICT Charter discussions, with a submission and attendance of
two of the work sessions. Fundamo supports the spirit of the ICT
Charter which focuses on unlocking the full potential of South Africa
and on building a strong ICT industry. Fundamo will consider BEE
ownership once the company has reached break-even and the future
of the business is secure. |
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THE FUTURE |
| While trading conditions for mobile
payment companies have been difficult over the past five years, there
are indications that this market is coming of age and that more applications
will be commercially deployed in the future. |
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| Fundamo expects good growth in the
number of transactions and active accounts during 2006. Its focus
is on growing revenue, improving delivery and support capability
as well as calculated and prudent expansion outside Africa. With
its reference base, patented intellectual property and knowledge
of the market, Fundamo is well positioned to benefit from the expected
growth in this market. |
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12.4% interest |
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| Cueincident (Proprietary) Limited (Cueincident)
provides command control centres with high-technology surveillance
devices and cameras for the monitoring of entire areas such as cities,
roads, railways, harbours and airports. Over the past seven years
the company became a leader in the design, implementation and management
of operations in incident management for macro-facility installations
in South Africa. |
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| Installations and operations in Johannesburg,
Rosslyn and Pretoria attracted an enormous amount of local and international
media interest. Operating in collaboration with the SAPS, Metropolitan
Police, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) as well as municipal,
rail and banking services, the company’s offering contributed
to a sustained 80% drop in street crime, a reduction of some 90%
in losses at Spoornet City Deep, an improvement in municipal services
and increased business and investor confidence in the Gauteng region. |
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| Cueincident has received several awards,
accreditations and certifications, including Technology Top 100:
Winner in the Large Enterprise Services Category; Impumelelo Top
300 BEE Companies (fifth consecutive year); Proudly South African
company; and SABS ISO 9001:2000 accreditation for design, development,
installation, implementation, management and operation of surveillance
technology systems. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2005 |
| During the year ended 31 March 2005,
Cueincident increased its gross profit by 31.25% over the previous
financial year. In the second half of 2004, VenFin acquired 12.4%
of the shareholding in the company. |
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BEE |
| Cueincident’s BEE ownership status
is 52.59%. BEE shareholders are Circle Capital Ventures (23.75%),
Mvelaphanda (11.88%) and Orlyphunt (18.96%). Although Employment
Equity is at 92.16%, the executive is still not adequately transformed.
The company understands the importance of this and is addressing
the issue. |
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THE FUTURE |
| Cueincident is well positioned to benefit
from the anticipated demand for improved infrastructure, well-managed
environments and security and safety leading up to the World Cup
Soccer Tournament in 2010. Its leadership position, reputation and
media profile have positioned the brand favourably in high-level
decision-making circles. |
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| There is a ready acceptance of Cueincident’s
market offering and a strong demand in African and Middle Eastern
markets. Over the next 12 months the company’s biggest challenge
will be to match the growth in demand with appropriate competencies
and resources to deliver its product offering in foreign marketplaces. |
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38.3% interest |
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| GenuOne Incorporated (GenuOne) is a
provider of security technologies and solutions that enable companies
to protect their products and value chain from counterfeiting, grey
market diversion, warranty fraud and intellectual property theft
in the physical world and on the Internet. Every implementation consists
of a flexible combination of web and network-based software modules,
a variety of marking platforms and professional services. |
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| With its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts,
GenuOne serves a global client base which includes corporations in
the pharmaceutical, high tech, luxury goods, tobacco and apparel
industries as well as the US Federal Government. |
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| VenFin’s interest in GenuOne is
38.3% on an issued share basis, but reduces to 17.4% if all convertible
notes and preference shares are taken into account. |
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PRODUCTS |
| GenuOne’s SourceGuard is an anti-counterfeiting
system that uses marking technologies, supply chain software and
integration services for the physical world. GenuOne’s advanced
product marking solutions use molecularly and optically modified
inks, infrared and ultraviolet photo-luminescent dyes, spot metallisation
and authenticable holograms. GenuOne combines these technologies
with its online software, which controls the procurement and order
fulfilment of security products between a brand owner, its remote
factories and GenuOne. |
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| On the Internet GenuOne’s GenuNet
software enables companies to identify and respond to unauthorised
online activity that adversely affects their brands and products.
GenuNet Auction V4.0 is a proprietary-hosted application specifically
designed to streamline the identification of infringing listings,
track suspicious sellers, shut down infringing auctions and to help
the brand owner minimise illicit product sales within online auctions,
such as eBay. |
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OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD TO 30 JUNE 2005 |
| The explosion of the radio frequency
identification (RFID) industry during 2003 and the key role that
its TraceGuard product could play in this market, motivated GenuOne
in 2004 to establish a division that focused on supply chain tracking
using RFID technology. However, 2004 proved to be a difficult year
for GenuOne. While the company managed to develop a strong joint
RFID solution offering with a major industry player, it needed major
investment and related proof of concept assignments were not converted
to any significant sales orders. |
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| Although there was a lot of talk around
RFID, few companies committed themselves to the use of the technology.
This wait and see attitude is expected to continue throughout 2005,
so GenuOne decided to sell its track and trace software (TraceGuard
architecture) in June 2005. |
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THE FUTURE |
| GenuOne will once again focus on its
brand security division and Internet-based GenuNet offering. In the
short term management will focus on growing the sales channel, leveraging
its expertise in the footwear industry and taking its new GenuNet
eBay auctioning module to market. |
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CHF2.7 million |
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| VHF Technologies SA (VHF), based in
Yverdon in Switzerland, develops and manufactures thin film amorphous
silicon solar cells on a plastic substrate. The result is a flexible
photovoltaic (PV) solar cell, as opposed to the well-established
rigid crystalline silicon solar panels (on a glass substrate), which
currently comprise 90% of the PV market. |
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| The market for PV products was estimated
at €5.7 billion in 2004, of which approximately 50% comprised
modules, the balance being connectors, wiring, inverters and installation
costs. The demand from on-grid applications was 77% and those from
off-grid applications 23%. Consumer products and communication and
signal applications are included in the off-grid figure. The main
growth over the last five years came from on-grid applications, where
subsidies and incentives in some first world countries make the use
of alternative energy sources, such as biomass, wind power and solar
energy viable. |
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To date, VenFin and Richemont have
committed each CHF3 million to VHF, of which
CHF0.3 million from
each company remains undrawn. Both VenFin and Richemont have the
option of converting their loans to a 30% shareholding in VHF. |
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VHF is still in a product development
phase and has been using the funding to:
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- establish a 100 kW pilot production
facility,
- develop the product to a commercial ready stage, and
- establish
commercial partner interest.
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| Should this stage be successful, further
funding will be raised to build a full 5 MW production plant. |
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| The goal of VHF is to become a low-cost
supplier of flexile solar cells (flexcell®) to building element
manufacturers (e.g. facades and roofing). Current products of VHF
comprise rollable solar sheets to charge cellphones and other communication
equipment. |
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| Flexcell’s main competitive advantages: |
- The product is lightweight and flexible, allowing for total integration
on building elements of various shapes and enabling roll-to-roll
manufacturing.
- A plastic substrate is used, which should provide a substantial
cost reduction in relation to glass substrate panels.
- Easily transportable.
- Very durable.
- Easy to install.
|
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Technology
Interests 
