RESPECT: Craig Venter

I would  like to take this opportunity to respond to the article by Chris Barron entitled: "He couldn't take it" (Sunday Times Business Times, January 29 2012). This article is fraught with inaccuracies and innuendoes. It is quite honestly a gross misrepresentation of the facts.

In the initial Altech media statement, I made it clear that Jeffrey Hedberg and I had discussed his decision to leave and that he had indicated that he wanted to pursue his career outside of the Altech Group and I further indicated that the split was an amicable one. I therefore find the following quote from the article very problematic: ''An analyst felt Venter's response was 'probably a one-finger gesture to Hedberg', prompted by Venter's irritation at his share price falling more than 5% on the day Hedberg's resignation was announced."

I would like to make it clear at the outset that I have the utmost respect for Jeffrey and that we parted amicably. Any inference otherwise is wrong and, quite frankly, borders on being defamatory. Furthermore, the 5% decline in the share price was on a day in which the whole market was down, and it needs to be stated that the share price subsequently recovered to higher levels when compared with the initial decline over the subsequent two days.

The article suggests that there are issues regarding my ability to lead the Altech Group.

In the 15 years that I have led the Altech Group it has shown continued and substantial growth and profitability. In our last financial year we reported annual revenue of R9.6-billion with an operating profit of R787-million and an annuity level of 83%.

One need only look at our share price compared to other comparable companies listed on the JSE to realise that Altech continues to be a strong performer - the current PE multiple being approximately 12. If the investment community was really concerned, or doubted my leadership, or was worried about the Altech Group as a whole, why is the Altech share price strong and stable at R52?

We have a diverse and strong portfolio of businesses, with traditionally strong ROE and earnings growth.

While East Africa has presented us with various challenges, we have implemented a number of turnaround strategies to correct the underperformance of our operations there. New management has been appointed and, while there will be a strong focus on resolving existing operational and financial challenges, there have also been a number of actions to strengthen the positioning of the businesses in the region.

I have an extremely strong and capable team, at both head office and at our more than 35 operations (employing in excess of 4000 employees).

While we may have lost Jeffrey Hedberg as Group COO, this post was managed by me for 18 months prior to his appointment, and until such time as we find a suitable replacement I will continue to manage the COO role in conjunction with my divisional executives. I must add that I regularly solicit feedback from my executive team regarding my management style and the response has always been that I am tough, but fair. There are a number of executives within the Altech Group who continue to work for and alongside me for extended periods of time - some for 24 years. I do not believe this would be the case for a leader who purportedly has a poor and authoritarian/ abrasive management style.

The current chairman of the Altech Board, Mr Moss Leoka, contacted me following the appearance of the Chris Barron article to reassure me that I continue to have the full support of the Altech board.

Much of the article by Chris Barron relies on speculation by unnamed sources with little substance when one considers Altech's historical performance.

I hope that you will be kind enough to grant me the opportunity in your publication to respond and to publish the contents of this response in order to provide your readership and the South African public at large with a factual account of the situation with regard to myself and the Altech Group.