Aspen was ranked third in the June 2006 Financial Mail Top Companies survey. Companies are ranked based on consistent performance for five years.
Aspen wasn’t on the radar screen a few years ago; now it’s in third position and has a market capitalization in excess of R14 billion.
Aspen’s share delivered a highly credible 112% rise in a one year period, returning real value to shareholders.Aspen is a salutary reminder that aspirant blue-chip companies don’t necessarily need a long track record.
CEO Stephen Saad led the acquisition of SA Druggists for R2.4 billion in 1999, and confounded the skeptics by paying off a R1 billion debt within five years. Now Aspen supplies 25% of the tablets or capsules in South Africa’s public health-care system. Extracts Financial Mail June 2006. www.financialmail.co.za
