With the market — until the recent meltdown — mostly enamoured of high-flying growth stocks, the art of the turnaround has been much neglected by investors.

This is understandable. After the momentum in large-cap stocks such as Naspers/Prosus, Anglo American, Remgro and Richemont — or even quality mid-caps such as Transaction Capital and Afrimat — simply backing a quality growth stock with fair prospects is a far less onerous task than having to constantly review the many external and internal factors that inform a company turnaround. And sometimes the trouble that companies — especially small caps  — get themselves into is truly mind-boggling...