Barloworld is a distributor of leading global brands. Established in 1902 in South Africa, it is one of the country’s oldest companies. Barloworld has head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and in Maidenhead in the United Kingdom. They provide integrated rental, fleet management, product support and logistics solutions.

The core divisions of the group comprise of Equipment – earthmoving and power system, Automotive and Logistics – Care rental, motor retail, fleet services, used vehicles and disposal solutions, logistics management, and supply chain optimisation.

The company currently operate in 16 countries around the world with approximately 18 000 employees (most of them in South Africa).

Barloworld began in 1902 when Major Ernest Barlow formed Thos. He went on the create Barlow & Sons in Durban. Since then, Barloworld has grown to become part of a multinational brand distribution company and are the sole dealer for Cat machines in Southern Africa.

In 2010, Barloworld reached an agreement to acquire Wagner Equipment’s 50% share in the Russian Caterpillar equipment joint venture. One year later, in 2011, Barloworld entered into a joint venture with French Cat Dealer, Tractafric, to form Congo Equipment which deals Caterpillar equipment in the rich Katanga mining area in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2016, Barloworld Power became the first Caterpillar Power Systems dealer to achieve Caterpillar Gold Level Marine Service Assessment status in Africa. Confirming its High-level of service delivery and committed support to marine customers.

Even though the outlook for the South African economy has weakened with negative consumer and business confidence impacting local demand and a technical recession in the last half of 2018, The Group achieved a 12.3% return on invested capital for the year, over 2017’s 11.2%.  They also upped their game and generated a return of equity of 11.4% over the 10.5% achieved in 2017. Furthermore, The Group generated greater headline earnings per ordinary share of 1151 cents per share, which represents an 18% increase from the previous year.

The solid performance was particularly due to robust earnings growth in Equipment Russia, the turnaround of the logistics business and the strong associate income from the Bartrac JV in the Katanga Region in Congo.

The group Chief Executive stated that they have produced a strong result in the reporting period, despite a difficult trading and economic environment. The uncertainty regarding the government policy on the expropriation of land without compensation has negatively impacted on new investment in South Africa, but Barloworld does not seem to be bothered by the potential new policy. Equipment South Africa and Automotive performances were satisfactory and the group kept on growing their operations across South Africa amidst a challenging economic environment.

The group will continue to focus on driving their business to their full potential through the optimal allocation of capital, improving on existing operational efficiency and by strategic acquisition or selling of underperforming assets.

Transport

Transport & Logistics