Dimension Data Holdings' chief executive Brett Dawson
said the group's strategy for the next few years will focus on
growth.
The group reported a total profit of $1.6m in its interim
results, against a loss of $28.8m in its 2003 second-half results.
The company also reported an 8% revenue growth of $1,176.7m,
against $1,087.7m for the previous six months, as well as a $9.9m
operating profit, against a loss of $4.5m for the previous
period. Dawson says, "We are back in profit, where we are certainly
going to stay."
In 2003 Dimension Data initiated a strategy to "stop the
bleeding", and started the global implementation of turnaround
strategies. According to the group's profit announcement these seem
to be working.
The next phase of the strategy, in 2004, is to focus on
stabilising the company and investing in growth. To achieve this,
Dawson says the critical focus lies in market share gains, solution
group growth, service efficiency, customer experience enhancement
and increased cost control.
Dawson said the drivers behind the growth strategy are the pick
up in demand in some regions, an increased external focus of the
group, market share gains, a strong growth in solutions revenue,
and the partnerships with Cisco Systems, EMC and Microsoft.
"We have secured the low-hanging fruits, now we expect
stability," Dawson said, noting that the group's product offerings
still remain a key element of its growth strategy.
"We aim to provide more comprehensive solutions to customers in
the areas of security, platforms, IP convergence, customer
interactive solutions and application integration. These areas
constitute 23% of our business, and we need to give our attention
to further growing revenue through solution provision," he
said.
Looking to the future, Dawson said, "While the competitive
environment remains tough, the combination of an improved demand
for ICT services, greater external focus and better execution
should continue to drive the performance of the group in the second
half of the year. We will continue to focus on overall
profitability and margin stabilisation, aided by the ongoing
turnarounds in under-performing regions and a reduction in central
overheads, due to a lower investment in services."
Theo Boshoff writes for Computing South
Africa