EOH flags loss, shares take beating

● Embattled technology group EOH Holdings flagged a half-year loss on Friday, sending its shares down to their lowest level since 2009.

EOH was a favourite among investors for most of the past decade, but a slew of bad news has put pressure on its share price, and the market now values the company at less than half its net asset value.

EOH shares fell by more than 12% in early trading on Friday, to a low of R9.

Large write-offs on goodwill and intangible assets are mostly to blame for the swing from a profit a year ago to a loss in the six months to end-December, the company said in a trading statement on Sens.

Though only a modest part of EOH’s business, the decision by US software giant Microsoft to end its licensing deal with one of the group’s subsidiaries this year has weighed heavily on the stock.

The decision last month to postpone the release of its half-year results also pummelled its share price.

CEO Stephen van Coller, who has been in the hot seat for less than a year, is rejigging a group that has sprawled into scores of businesses that do not necessarily fit together.

“The group has recently completed a strategic review of the business and presented a strategic plan to the board which was adopted in late March,” the company said.

The company, which reports results this week, said it expected a headline loss of 993c per share, compared with earnings of 319c the previous year.

“Revenue remains stable at R8.4bn and operating costs remain flat, after the removal of once-off items,” the company added.

A large part of the impairments are noncashflow items, the company said, adding that the net asset value of the group was about R4.6bn and substantially higher than its market capitalisation of less than R1.9bn.

EOH shares are down more than twothirds so far this year, their lowest level in nearly 10 years.

Van Coller is the former head of corporate and investment banking at Absa.

Bohbot stepped down as the company’s chair in February, saying at the time that he wanted to put corporate governance first.

He remains heavily invested in the company.

Revenue remains stable at R8.4bn and operating costs remain flat