JSE-listed technology company Pinnacle Holdings has warned that its headline earnings per share for the year to end-June are likely to have fallen by as much as 22% compared to the previous year. The news sent the company’s share price plunging by more than 20% on Friday.

Earnings per share are likely to have declined by between 13% and 20%, the company said in a statement to its shadeholders.

Headline earnings per share are likely to be between 160c and 175c, down from 205,6c a year ago, it said.

News of the expected earnings decline comes on top of what has been a horrid year for Pinnacle and its shareholders. The share price plummeted in March after TechCentral revealed that Pinnacle director Takalani Tshivhase had been arrested for allegedly trying to bribe a top police official to secure a tender.

Tshivhase has taken a leave of absence to fight the charges that have been brought against him. He was arrested on 5 March by the Hawks for allegedly offering a R5m bribe to a lieutenant-general in the South African Police Service’s technology division to secure a lucrative tender.

The scandal led to an immediate slump in Pinnacle’s share price, with R1,5bn being wiped off its market capitalisation. The company came under fire for not communicating sufficiently with shareholders, only informing them of what had happened after the news broke.