Steinhoff to Reassure Investors on Liquidity

Steinhoff International issued a statement on Thursday morning saying it "wishes to provide additional comfort on the company’s liquidity".

The furniture group said its supervisory board believed it could recover €6bn in "certain non-South African assets", which would be more than its €4.76bn market capitalisation on the Frankfurt stock exchange following Wednesday’s 62% share price crash to €1.14.

Furthermore, Steinhoff said it would gain €2bn from its recently unbundled subsidiary Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star), which "will today formally commit to the refinancing of its long-term liabilities due to the company".

The statement included a clarification that the resignation of Star CEO Ben la Grange on Wednesday was not because he was suspected of the accounting irregularities at the parent group, where he has the role of chief financial officer.

La Grange had resigned from Star to focus solely on his role as chief financial officer at Steinhoff.
The statement said a further €1bn was in the pipeline as it had "today received expressions of interest in certain noncore assets".

But news of yet another transaction may not reassure investors since Steinhoff’s constant wheeling and dealing appear to be behind its accounting scandal, which led to CEO Markus Jooste’s sudden departure on Tuesday night.
With few other facts to go on, investors have turned to an investigation published by Reuters in November.

Businesslive  SA