Altech shares fell almost 6 per cent in midday trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange yesterday, in spite of its chief executive officer (CEO) saying he would give up his bonus in the wake of poor financial results.
HumanIPO reported yesterday CEO Craig Venter’s announcement that he would give up his 2012/2013 bonus due to the company’s poor financial performance, saying “the buck stops with me”.
This did not stop shares in the company falling 5.91 per cent to ZAR32.93, though it stabilised at ZAR33.80 by the end of the day. This was after it gained more than 10 per cent to ZAR35 on Monday. The company’s 52-week best is ZAR54.
Altech reported last month a ZAR1.54 billion (US$169 million) loss from operating activities, though the company claimed it was now on the right track after disposing of its East and West African operations.
“Results from our East and West African operations were disappointing. However, with the disposal of these assets we are now in a position to unlock value from innovation and convergence through our remaining assets, and enhance our activity base by further exploiting our intellectual property,” said Venter.
In February, Altech entered into a strategic partnership with Liquid Telecom which saw the latter take on assets spanning a number of African countries, including a 61 percent stake in Kenya Data Networks (KDN), as well as service providers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Uganda.
The company shed its majority stake in its West African business in September of last year, selling off 75 percent in the face of revenue losses.
Parent company Altron is expected to release its financial results today, having advised last month it expects headline earnings per share to decline by between 27 per cent and 32 per cent.
“Basic earnings per share has been affected by a combination of the loss on disposal of Altech’s East and West African operations, as well as the impairments taken at the half year with respect to these same operations,” Altron said.
