The Group’s strategic
ambition of scale and
growth, and continually
pursuing responsible
stewardship, is being
achieved by maintaining
a strong balance sheet,
exercising financial
discipline through
considered capital
allocation, and pursuing
organic and acquisitive
growth opportunities in
our identified areas of
strategic focus.
We promote and support our entrepreneurial management teams that empower
many enterprises across all our areas of operation to be catalysts for value creation.
We further support our teams to create an ecosystem of businesses that actively
supports and adds value to our customer base, focuses on cash generation and
returns, but at the same time strengthens society and enables it to function efficiently
and sustainably.
We foster innovation and an environment in which employees thrive, which in turn
drives our advance across markets, geographies and society. We continually seek
to maximise our portfolio by broadening our offering, expanding internationally
in niche hygiene and facilities management services as well as plumbing related
wholesaling, and we allocate capital efficiently, including on bolt-on acquisition and
long-dated assets.
During FY2022, we made further progress in advancing our strategy. We started
the year with the successful placement of Bidvest’s inaugural, attractively priced,international bond. This is a critical enabler of our
growth ambitions, particularly internationally, and
a clear external endorsement of such. A good
M&A pipeline was proactively built, and several
exploratory engagements kicked off. A handful of
bolt-on acquisitions were concluded, both locally
and offshore. The anticipated scale benefits from
the bolt-on acquisitions concluded by Noonan
in the prior year, as well as organic growth, is
manifesting in an excellent return uplift.
Our steadfast discipline when evaluating
opportunities remained firmly intact as
we walked away from several acquisition
possibilities.
Enablers
Decentralised and diverse portfolio 
Maximising a decentralised and diverse asset portfolio by innovation and continuously broadening the service and product basket
- Seven focused divisions, operating in SA, UK, Spain, Ireland and Australia
- Each with own chief executive and leadership team
- Diverse leadership empowered as catalysts for value creation
- A range of everyday essential products and services
- Clear succession plan in place
Performance driven culture
Promoting and supporting entrepreneurial management teams, and providing the agility and an environment for decisive actions
- Empowering entrepreneurship
- Committed to customers
- Driven by excellence
- Leading by example
- Providing a safe and healthy workplace with equal opportunities for all
- Learning and personal development opportunities
Financial strength
Maintaining a strong
financial position by
focusing on asset
management, generating
cash and growth
- Strong balance sheet
- Financial discipline
- Highly cash generative
- Tight cost control an everyday principle
- Entrenched Return on Funds Employed (ROFE) measurement:
- Services related ROFE >50%; and
- Distribution related businesses ~30%
Outcomes
Scale and growth
Capital invested in key areas, ensuring growth and internationalising niche services
- Targeting a blend of defensive, cyclical and growth assets
- Established market players of scale
- Organic growth:
- Extract value in fragmented markets;
- Expand service & product offering;
and
- Agile pivot into growth sectors
- Acquisitive growth:
- Selected international niche sectors
of hygiene services, facilities
management and plumbing
products;
- Bolt-on acquisitions; and
- Capital investment in long-dated
assets
Responsible stewardship
Social value and long-term sustainability created for all stakeholders
- Opportunities to develop and offer environmentally friendly products and services to enhance value for customers
- Deploy technology to drive efficiencies
- Projects to lower our own footprint
- Inclusive socio-economic initiatives
- Maintain high standards of corporate governance
