What’s Steinhoff really worth now?
The furniture retailer has raised some cash recently, but analysts says it’s impossible to discern what Steinhoff is really worth
For those who are wondering whether Steinhoff shares will head to zero, or bounce back from their present level of below R3, the answer is: flip a coin. Teasing out a valuation of the company, say analysts, is simply impossible. RandSwiss portfolio manager Gary Booysen says until the market has the results of PwC’s investigation into accounting irregularities going back at least three years, "what are you basing your [valuation] decision on?" PwC’s report is expected by the end of the year. Fairtree Capital’s Jean Pierre Verster is equally blunt. He says: "Since the previous financials cannot be relied upon any more, it is impossible to know. "The fact that certain of Steinhoff’s European debt is trading at a discount to par implies that those participants think the equity has less than zero value, but there is a dearth of information to know for sure." Last week, Steinhoff rocked the market anew with the revelation that it may take a €1.1bn write-down on its €2.2bn European propert...
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