Higher revenue despite downturn

INVESTMENT and property holding company ARB Holdings hiked revenue by 4.5 percent to R2.59 billion in the year to June 30 despite operating in a slow economy. The group said it had managed to grow gross profit by 3.5 percent through disciplined trading practices, while overheads rose 7.5 percent because of the addition of two new branches in the electrical division, the Craig Cor transaction and new investment in capacity in the lighting division. ARB said there had been no discernible trend to give any indication of sustainable momentum in the economy during the year. Low infrastructure spend, worsened by the slowdown in Eskom’s electrification efforts, made for a really challenging trading environment.