The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has seen a mixed bag of success and failure for tech stocks over the last year, with some companies thriving while others failed to live up to expectations
Share prices among the tech stocks varied significantly during the course of 2017, with telecoms companies generally struggling with loses while media and telematics companies experienced excellent gains throughout the 12-month period.
Here are the 10 winners and losers from Johannesburg Stock Exchange tech shares during 2017.
Another excellent year for Naspers saw Africa’s largest company continue to provide good news for its shareholders while attracting new investors with ease. The media giant experienced gains of 62.8 percent, revealing the group’s excellent performance on the South African exchange.
MiX Telematics – Winner
MiX Telematics, founded in 1996 in South Africa, is a global provider of driver safety, vehicle tracking and fleet management services and solutions in over 120 countries including the U.S., Brazil, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. The tech company’s stock grew by an incredible 78 percent on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over the last year.
Cartrack – Winner
Cartrack, a leading global provider of fleet management, stolen vehicle recovery and insurance telematics services saw massive gains in its share value over the course of 2017, with a decisive 73.5 percent boost in their share price during the year.
Mustek Limited – Winner
Personal computer and ICT product assembler and distributor Mustek’s share price declined earlier in the year on the South African exchange, but a swift improvement in the second part of the year helped the company to see a 16.3 percent rise in its share price since the beginning of the year.
EOH has often been one of the top performing shares on the JSE, but this year has been different. A staggering 57.8 percent decline in its share price over the last 12 months has been blamed on investor uncertainty following the departure of former CEO Asher Bohbot and speculative media reports concerning alleged shady government deals.
Adapt IT – Loser
Another of the worst performers on this list of tech stocks is Adapt IT, which lost a massive 60.8 percent since January. The ICT firm has grown steadily over the years, both organically and by acquisition, and this sudden decline came about with the market accustomed to consistent growth.
Blue Label Telecoms – Loser
Blue Label Telecoms is another of the JSE tech stocks that failed to bring in positive returns over the last year, with a 19.4 percent loss since January in the company’s share price on the Johannesburg exchange.
Telkom – Loser
South African partially state-owned telecoms company Telkom saw a massive 38.3 percent percent drop in its share price since the start of 2017, with analysts believing that this is due to its heavy reliance on its fixed-line business.
Jasco Electronics – Loser
Information and communication technology firm, Jasco Electronics, is another of the underperformers on this list. In terms of the small-cap tech companies on the JSE, none performed more poorly than Jasco in 2017, losing 31.6 percent of its value during the course of 2017.