ALTRON’S SHARES TAKE A TUMBLE ON THE BOURSE OVER LOWER EARNINGS FORECAST

SHARES in JSE-listed tech group Altron tumbled 4.27 percent in intraday trade to R8.75 after it said yesterday that for the year ended February 2022 it would report lower headline earnings per share (Heps). Altron expected to report Heps of between 32 to 42 cents, down 77 to 69 percent compared to the comparative period for the prior year, saying that its decrease in both Heps and basic earnings per share was a result of the inclusion of Bytes Technology Group in the prior year’s results, which was a material component of Altron Group before it was disposed on December 17, 2020. Basic earnings per share were expected to be a loss between 33c and 26c, which is a decline of between 101 and 100.8 percent. However, Heps for continued operations was expected in a range of between

49c and 55c. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the hybrid way of working, the right-of-use asset associated with the Altron Campus has been impaired during the financial year, the firm said. Last month it was reported that Altron had appointed Stewart van Graan as new executive chairperson and acting chief executive effective from July 1, 2022. In January, Altron announced that its chief executive, Mteto Nyati, would step down from his role as of June 30 after a five-year term with the group. |