COMPANY COMMENT: Datatec does not learn from its costly mistakes
Datatec is learning a hard lesson, again
It is a huge project, which it had done twice before in Australia and North America, and during which its operations were also disrupted. Which is what makes it peculiar that Datatec seems not to have fully grasped what the effect of a project of this magnitude can have on the business if it is not executed properly. As a consequence, its profit for the year to February took a huge knock. CEO Jens Montanana admitted the group probably underestimated the effect the project would have on operations. Unlike during the Australian and North American projects when the company was dealing with one currency for payment, in Europe, it had to process orders in different currencies and connect the systems to multiple warehouses. While the process is almost completed, Datatec may incur further costs upon the completion of the process. At the same time, it is in the process of selling Westcon, its biggest subsidiary that accounts for about 74% of the group’s revenue. Selling the business is like...
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