Aspen not like Steinhoff – CEO

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings CEO Stephen Saad said full-year earnings are “completely clear” and the drugmaker has nothing in common with scandal-hit Steinhoff International.

Responding to a slump in the share price, the company said it was aware of speculation that Viceroy Research – a group of investors who published a report into Steinhoff’s accounts last month – is preparing a similar dossier on Aspen.

The drugmaker has had no contact with Viceroy and “is not aware of any information of a price-sensitive nature that requires communication to shareholders”.

Saad added: “It is sad that unscrupulous operators can abuse the fear in the market for their own greed. Steinhoff is as similar to Aspen as A is to S in the alphabet.”

Steinhoff shares have slumped almost 90% since it said in early December that it had uncovered accounting irregularities and CEO Markus Jooste quit.

“The market is very sensitive” in the wake of the scandal, according to Petri Redelinghuys, founder of Herenya Capital Advisors. Investors are going through the accounts of all companies they don’t fully understand and are looking for warning signs that Steinhoff isn’t an isolated case, he said.

Aspen has expanded aggressively through acquisition and has operations in over 150 countries.

“We have been loath to issue shares and have repaid all acquisitions through cash earnings,” Saad said. “We have a two-decade track record of cash earnings matching operating earnings.”

Saad said in July that the company had decided to change the way it reports earnings by categorising performance based on type of pharmaceutical and geography. That followed criticism from the analyst community, he said at the time. – Bloomberg

Steinhoff is as similar to Aspen as A is to S in the alphabet.

Stephen Saad CEO, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings