Altech slides 8.85% on the JSE
ICT firm Allied Technologies Limited (Altech) declined more than 8% in early trade on the JSE on Tuesday (4 September), continuing its recent downward spiral on the local bourse.
A dealer said that there was no particular announcement to warrant the move lower, adding that volumes were thin.
The group reached a one year best of R61.57 on 31 August 2011, but slumped to R41.01 by 10.30 local time on the JSE on the back of an intraday loss of R3.98 (-8.85%).
The latest price gives Altech a market cap of R4.36 billion.
The group reached a five year peak of R80 in October 2007, and has since slipped steadily from R78.90 in November 2009.
Altech is expected to publish its interim results on September 27th.
Last month, the group signed a long-term agreement with Huawei, to provide Huawei Enterprise products and services to customers and offer post-sales professional services and support.
Altech will also distribute Huawei devices, such as smartphones and tablets, through its existing Altech Autopage Cellular national distribution network.
The agreement covers countries including South Africa, Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Business Unit Leader for ICT Africa at F&S, Chantel Lindeman, said that the partnership made good sense and would assist Altech in further developments into Africa.
In April, Altech recorded a pre-tax loss of R240 million for the year ended February 2012 – from a prior profit of R459 million – following losses in East and West Africa.
Revenue improved marginally to R9.97 billion, from R9.65 billion in 2011. Altech Autopage Cellular, with revenue of R6.069 billion, is still Altech’s major asset.
Despite its disappointing results, Altech still declared a dividend of 248 cents per share, from a dividend of 356 cents per share in 2011.
The group told BusinessTech recently that negotiations relating to the sale of its flagging West Africa operations were still ongoing despite Altech CEO, Craig Venter telling the media on 25 April that the group was six to eight weeks away form a sale.
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