Technology distributor Mustek has warned shareholders that it expects to report another weak set of financial results, with interim headline earnings per share expected to plunge by as much as 80%.
The company said on Monday in a trading update issued via the JSE that for the half year ended 31 December 2024, Heps will be between 70% and 80% lower than the number reported in the same six-month period a year ago.
“The decline in the group’s performance reflects the adverse impacts of the prevailing local and economic challenges,” Mustek said, without elaborating.
Last September, Mustek reported similarly weak earnings for the year ended 30 June 2024. At the time, it said it was chopping its dividend by 90% after reporting an 82% slump in Heps and 16% decline in revenue.
“Prevailing uncertainty froze corporate and government spending, and the unexpected abatement of load shedding abruptly ended the renewable energy boom, which fuelled our growth last year,” Mustek said at the time. “Reduced demand for green energy products put us in a challenging situation with surplus stock in a tough macroeconomic environment with high interest rates.”
Sales of green energy products declined by R1.35-billion year on year, it said about its 2024 financial year numbers. Gross profit on green energy products reduced by R338-million, while margins on these products reduced from an average of 22% to 14%.
Takeover bid
Mustek said it expects to report that its net asset value per share has risen slightly to between R28 and R28.35 when it publishes its 2025 interim financial results.
The company is currently the subject of a takeover bid by Novus Holdings. That transaction ran into a little turbulence last week when the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) said it had found that Mustek shareholder the DK Trust – created by late Mustek founder David Kan – was a “concert party” to Novus’s bid to acquire a controlling stake in the company.
Read: Why Novus wants to buy Mustek
The TRP’s findings are unlikely to stop the deal from going ahead and, according to Novus CEO André van der Veen, the only party materially affected by the ruling is the DK Trust, which will for six months after the conclusion of the deal be barred from buying Mustek or Novus shares.
Novus announced last November that it would made a mandatory offer to other Mustek shareholders after acquiring more than 35% of the technology company’s equity. It said it would offer them:
- A cash consideration of R13/share; or
- A cash amount of R7/share plus one ordinary share in Novus for each Mustek share held; or
- Two Novus shares for each Mustek share tendered.
Often, approaches such as this one result in the target firm being delisted. But Mustek CEO Hein Engelbrecht, who said he won’t sell his shares, told TechCentral at the time the proposed deal was announced that the intention was for the company to remain listed on the JSE. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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