PSITEK
Additionally, Psitek’s strategy of creating independent, strong and visible product and service brands has resulted in a number of preferred brands in the supervised payphone segment and the fixed wireless terminal segment. New service brands were recently launched for service centre support and for providing access to content and data services. Psitek has a strong product development capability. The company distributes and supports its products around the world and has a wholly owned manufacturing facility.
Overview of the year to 30 June 2007
Psitek recorded improved financial results for the period under review due to the implementation of various strategic initiatives to improve market penetration and profitability. The consolidated turnover for the period was R316.5 million (2006: R249.8 million).The company operates in a number of foreign regions and has established a physical representation in a number of countries, including Mexico, Algeria, DRC, Nigeria and Kenya. The regions are managed from the Cape Town head office by regional heads who are responsible for driving market activity and setting up support structures in their regions. Partnerships and strategic relationships with clients continue to be key focus areas of the marketing and sales teams.
At the product creation end of the business, innovation and product development remain key factors that will allow the company to grow market share in existing markets and to create market opportunities in new areas. A great deal of development effort is spent on lower-cost, higher-specification products for existing markets. This should provide clear and sustainable product differentiation and allow the regional sales teams to compete well against lower-cost imported products with a lower functionality. At the same time, a number of development teams have been developing new product lines to drive new revenues and to support strategies for generating revenues from value-added services deployed across the product base.
BEE
Psitek was restructured during the prior financial year to cater for envisaged international and local partnership requirements. Two empowerment deals were concluded within its South African interests during this period.In the first empowerment deal, 25% of the shares in Elprom, Psitek’s electronic goods manufacturing facility in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, were made available to employees in a broad-based BEE initiative. This transaction significantly raised the BEE profile of the company and the group. The second deal relates to Psitek South Africa, where 20% of the company was sold to Regiments Capital under the leadership of Litha Nyhonyha.