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Worst performing tech shares in 2013

Staff Writer

 ·2 Jan 2014

Tech companies have had a busy year on the JSE, and the South African tech sector has weathered the economic storms and ups and downs of 2013 – some worse than others.

SA tech companies have had a generally positive performance on the JSE this year – but it was not good news all around, as 11 of the 24 companies analysed saw a drop on the value of their shares during the course of the year.

As always, some losses are greater than others, and there were some clear losers whose stocks sank on the local exchange.

These are the tech companies who did not performs so well on the JSE in 2013:

Worst tech performers on the JSE (under R10)

Worst tech performers on the JSE (over R10)

Gijima

Gijima once again faced a tough year, having lost over 77% of its share value over the course of the past 12 months.

This follows the loss of 57% of its value over the course of 2012.

In September, the troubled ICT company reported a R210.76 million loss for year ended June 2013, from a prior loss of R50.59 million in 2012.

The group said that the loss of two significant contracts that expired after several years of delivery in the previous financial year, a tough market and significant top-line pressure on a major project, contributed to a challenging financial year.

Speaking at the group’s results presentation in Sandton, CEO, Eileen Wilton said that Gijima had culled 500 of its workforce in the year ended June 2013, including 91 retrenchments – excluding 350 staff who were part of mining and technology consulting firm, MineRP, which Gijima sold in the reporting period.

The group has seen its staff decline by about a third, from 3,000, to 2,000 over the past year.

Jasco

Despite breaching the R1 billion revenue mark in 2013, listed ICT player, Jasco Electronics Holdings in September reported a pre-tax loss of R93.5 million for the year ended June 2013.

This was from a R31-million profit in 2012.

Speaking about its troubled year, Jasco pointed out that it is at the end of year two of its three-year restructuring programme, which saw  corrective action being taken to make a strategic exit from certain manufacturing businesses.

The company indicated that the first half of 2014 will be hit, as further restructuring costs will impact its results, with the second half of the year expected to show an improvement.

More on the worst performing companies

Gijima suffers heavy loss

Jasco swings to full-year loss

Worst performing tech shares of 2012