Steinhoff International Holdings NV suffered another blow on Thursday when Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the company’s credit rating deeper into junk.
More than two weeks after disclosing accounting irregularities, delaying its results and announcing the departure of its CEO, Steinhoff remains locked in a downward spiral.
On Monday (18th) current Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie sold R13m worth of stock. His predecessor offloaded R49m worth.
Steinhoff’s share price dropped 21% from late afternoon Monday. The market was right on Ramaphosa. It’s probably right on this one too.
Of special interest to Steinhoff shareholders is the disclosure that total debt is only half of the widely quoted €21bn.
In the wake of ex-chairman Christo Wiese’s departure on Friday, Steinhoff’s former chief operating officer Danie van der Merwe (59) has been appointed acting CEO.
With Steinhoff being such a large part of the South African index, pension savers have had no choice but to be exposed to this corporate scandal, writes Mike Abbott.
To speed up rehabilitation of a reputation so badly tarnished, SA business will not only need to rapidly clean up its act, but be seen to be doing so.
Christo Wiese and international banks are emerging as the biggest losers in the Steinhoff disaster.
With the dust yet to settle on state capture, the Steinhoff scandal looks set to reopen the country’s audit wounds.