Venter prepares to hand over reins of a leaner Altron

Radical restructuring in the wake of R1.1bn loss

ROBBIE Venter is likely to step down as Altron’s CEO at the end of February next year, or soon thereafter, handing the reins of the company to a non-relative for the first time in its 51-year history.

First, though, Venter, 56 — the son of Altron founder and nonexecutive chairman Bill Venter, 81 — intends to see through a radical restructuring of the group that will leave it much smaller but also, hopefully, highly profitable.

This week, Altron reported a full-year loss to end-February of R1.1-billion as poor performances by subsidiary companies — IT group Bytes was an exception — slashed earnings.

Even the normally reliable Netstar had a challenging year, with operating profits under pressure in the consumer stolen-vehicle recovery segment, although the fleet-tracking business continued to perform well.

Under Venter’s restructuring plan, Altron is selling or writing down a range of assets, including Altech Autopage, Altech Multimedia (the UEC set-top box business), the failed Altech Node set-top box project launched by his brother Craig, who quit the group last year, and a number of businesses under the poorly performing electrical subsidiary Powertech.

The aim is for Altron to emerge as a leaner business focused on technology, media and telecommunications, turning over about R14-billion a year (from R26-billion now) with R1-billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. (Ebitda is a measure of a company’s operating performance.) TRANSITION: Robbie Venter

Altron reported R888-million in ebitda from continuing operations for the 2016 financial year, so it’s not far off its target. Discontinued operations, however, dragged fullyear ebitda down to R376-million, with a large loss from Altech Autopage and substantial losses at UEC and from Powertech, which is feeling the full brunt of the weak South African economy.

“We’re satisfied with the progress we’ve made with the noncore assets, especially the asset sales, which are close to complete,” Venter said in an interview with Business Times this week.

Those sales include Altech Autopage’s subscribers, for which Venter expects to net between R800-million and R850-million (from gross proceeds of R1.3-billion) and the sale of Aberdare Cables to China’s Hengtong Optic-Electric International for R1.2-billion.

The proceeds from the sales, along with the sale of a property in Pretoria for R107-million, would go a long way to reducing high levels of debt on Altron’s balance sheet, Venter said. The more than R2billion in cash inflows will be used almost exclusively to reduce debt.

Altron intends exiting its remaining manufacturing businesses and is considering new partners for its UEC business, which has cut almost 800 jobs in the past 12 months as it downsizes operations in the face of vanishing orders.

Venter expects to announce further asset sales before the group’s interim results are published later in the year.

Venter said the plan was to “transition” Altron away from a family-managed business by the next financial year, bringing in an external CEO with experience in technology and telecoms who could “lead the company into its next growth phase”, possibly as early as March.

The Venters, who hold roughly 64% of Altron’s equity, do not intend being silent shareholders, however.

“The family will remain active shareholders, represented on the board,” said Venter, who will stay on to finish the restructuring.

“The asset sales will probably be completed somewhere around the end of this financial year, but it’s hard to define specifically these disposal processes.”

Once he relinquishes the reins, Venter intends spending more time with his family, who live overseas. But he will retain his residence in South Africa as he will still have a substantial role to play in Altron’s affairs.