Johannesburg — BLACK empowered electrical wholesaler ARB stands to benefit as spending on electricity infrastructure accelerates.

Releasing the group's results yesterday, CEO Craig Robertson said there was a backlog in electricity supply in Africa and plenty of homes and schools in rural areas that Eskom planned to connect to the power grid .

He said the rural electrification programme in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape was set to double, and a similar programme was under way in Limpopo, which should drive demand for the group's products in these regions.

ARB, which listed on the JSE in November, saw profit rise 23,7% to R104,1m for the year to June . Revenue rose 28,3% to R1,34bn, while headline earnings of R104,1m translated into 47,05c a share, up from 42,10c a year ago. A dividend for the year of 13c a share was declared.

About 20% of revenue was derived from large contractors supplying the infrastructure sector. Eskom, parastatals, major industrial groups and electrical contractors made up the balance of the group's customer base.

"As a leading supplier to the local infrastructure sector, ARB is benefiting from government and parastatal spend ," chairman and group founder Alan Burke said.

Referring to stock levels that rose in the last quarter of the year, Burke said the present inventory would enable ARB to meet higher demand.

The group offers power and instrumentation cabling, conductors, overhead line hardware, insulators and transformers and general electrical contracting materials.