Cashbuild to grow on infrastructure

cashbuild to grow on infrastructure


cape town - cashbuild would add market share through a redistribution of wealth in employment as the government launched its multibillion-rand infrastructure development, chief executive patrick goldrick said yesterday.

the building materials supplier with 164 stores in south africa would not be affected by the national credit act because it did not offer credit and this would lure people who could not buy on credit terms, he said.

the firm generated revenue of r3.4 billion in the year to june, a rise of 27 percent. it reported net profit of r128.3 million in the year, an increase of 38 percent.

earnings of r5.36 a share were reported, an increase of 46 percent compared with the previous financial year.

goldrick said that in the year under review cashbuild had a 53rd trading week, compared with the normal 52 weeks of the previous year. this extra week yielded additional revenue of r67 million.

if the effect of the extra week was excluded from the results, operating profit would have improved only 28 percent, headline earnings a share 33 percent and earnings a share 36 percent.


while he was pleased with the company's performance, goldrick believed the market would get tougher. but the firm had a strategy to grow through its large footprint of stores and good management.

cashbuild would gain from the government's infrastructure development as other suppliers would use it to top up their goods.

"we won't be the only supplier, neither will the firm be the main supplier, but we will gain market share through the distribution of wealth and the extra employment generated by the infrastructure development," goldrick explained.

the company would also add stores. last year it added 15 stores and it would add between 12 and 17 new stores in the coming year. most of these would be in south africa, while an extra store might be opened in botswana.

"we will continue to grow, not only the number of stores but our market share,'' goldrick concluded.

cashbuild shares were unchanged yesterday at r63.90, while the construction sector gained 0.69 percent.