Shareholders pay the price as Mantengu's story unravels

MANTENGU’S half-year results read like the inevitable outcome of a company consumed by its own hubris, with loud accusations directed outward, worsening numbers accumulating inward, growing risks left unmanaged, and accountability seemingly nowhere to be found.

- STAFF REPORTER

For the market, the figures mark a decisive break from the share price conspiracy Mantengu has spent a year selling. And for shareholders, the numbers are brutal. The scale of value destruction becomes clear when viewed through Mantengu’s earnings. In just twelve months, the company has swung from a modest profit to an R81.8 million loss, while earnings per share have collapsed from 2 cents to a loss of 27 cents - a deterioration of more than 1 400%.

That collapse in per share earnings reflects a sharp erosion of the underlying value available to shareholders, long before the market even reacts to the company’s worsening fundamentals. The most revealing number in the results is not even the company’s loss — troubling as it is -but the cash burn, as Mantengu consumed R108.3 million in operating cash in jae six months, leaving it with only R5.2 million in cash in the bank.