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Why we sold our investment in Steinhoff

24 January 2018

DISCOVERING OPPORTUNITIES. BUILDING WEALTH.
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Why we sold our investment in Steinhoff

24 January 2018

The announcement of financial irregularities by Steinhoff early December 2017 meant that we could no longer rely on the numbers on which the reported margins and the financial health of the company were based. We consequently sold our investment in Steinhoff early December.

We invested in Steinhoff based on consistently improving margins, supported by strong divisional management.

We first invested in Steinhoff in 2010. Over the years, our investment case in Steinhoff was built on improving margins in the European furniture business.  The business achieved these margins with a change in their mix of products, an improvement in their supply chain and logistics, and an expansion of the store base. We also had a high regard for their divisional management, many of whom have proven track records in running independent retail operations, including some large listed entities. Their reported numbers showed a consistent improvement in their core margin over the last number of years as management executed their stated strategy.

The announcement of financial irregularities cast doubts on the reported margins.

We revisited our investment case after the resignation of CEO Markus Jooste and the announcement of financial irregularities. These announcements put a question mark over the reliability of the numbers Steinhoff has reported on in the past. The numbers published by a company are not only the primary indication of the financial health of a company, they also give us the information we need to measure financial performance. Because we couldn’t rely on the numbers, we had to re-consider the validity of the reported margins over time, which were central to our original investment case. The value and existence of all the assets on the balance sheet and the extent of the debt was impossible for us to verify.

All the uncertainty made a reasonable valuation impossible.

Although the value of the listed assets in South Africa (which account only for a portion of Steinhoff’s asset base) could be verified independently, it became impossible to know how much debt these assets would have to service in time. In addition, the group had raised equity and debt in Europe and South Africa over the last few years. If this debt was raised based on unreliable numbers, claims for compensation would add substantially to the significant but unquantifiable, debt. This made an accurate valuation impossible – and investing in a company where a reasonable valuation is impossible is contrary to our investment process and philosophy. Without knowing what a balance sheet really looks like, we can’t be confident of having a reasonable margin of safety to protect our clients’ capital. We therefore sold our investment in Steinhoff at an average net price of R18.70 a share early December.

While the scope of the irregularities is unknown, we will not reinvest in Steinhoff.

Steinhoff has subsequently confirmed that investors can’t rely on the 2015 and 2016 audited financial results. This means that the extent and the impact of the accounting irregularities remain unknown. Only time will tell how material they are and what the scale of any potential compensation claims may be. Until this is clear we will not reinvest in Steinhoff.

Jan Meintjes

Disclaimer

SCI stands for Sanlam Collective Investments.

Denker Capital is an authorised Financial Services Provider, and an appointed investment advisor to Sanlam Investment Management (Pty) Ltd an authorised Financial Services Provider. The information in this communication or document belongs to Denker Capital (Pty) Ltd (Denker Capital). This information should only be evaluated for its intended purpose and may not be reproduced, distributed or published without our written consent. While we have undertaken to provide information that is true and not misleading in any way, all information provided by Denker Capital is not guaranteed and is for illustrative purposes only. The information does not take the circumstances of a particular person or entity into account and is not advice in relation to an investment or transaction. Because there are risks involved in buying or selling financial products, please do not rely on any information without appropriate advice from an independent financial adviser. We will not be held responsible for any loss or damages suffered by any person or entity as a result of them relying on, or not acting on, any of the information provided.

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  • About the author

    Jan Meintjes

    Jan Meintjes

    Jan manages our small cap opportunities fund, the S-Alt SC Qualified Hedge Fund +, and co-manages the Denker SCI Balanced and Stable funds with Madalet Sessions. Jan co-founded Gryphon Asset Management in 1998, after three years at Sanlam Asset Management as an equity analyst. In addition to co-managing the Coris Capital Money Market Fund and Absa Dividend Income Fund, Jan founded Gryphon Alternative Investments with the launch of the Gryphon Market Neutral Equity Fund in 2003. Given his experience and in-depth knowledge of the South African equity market, Jan has played an integral part in stock selection and asset allocation across the Denker Capital South African strategies since joining our business in 2011.

    View all articles by this author
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