The After Dinner Panel goes to Faritec to discuss the state of the company, particularly in light of the recently announced R123m loss. CEO Fanie v Rensburg opens up about the Shoden takeover, what they found and how they intend to stabilise and grow the company.

• By March the financial sustainability of the company was being questioned, and then CEO Simon Tomlinson said the company had embarked on a cost-cutting exercise that would include the retrenchment of almost 20% of the staff. Faritec also tried to raise R20m through a rights offering to shareholders.
• In April, Shoden agreed to lend Faritec R29m in working capital, converted into equity at 3c a share. After the deal, Shoden held more than 50% of Faritec, effectively taking over the company.
• A year previously the share price high had been 79c. The then price of 9c was three times higher than the price paid by Shoden. J&J also lent Faritec R5m on similar terms.
• In May Tshidi Nyembe resigned as Financial Director
• On the 12th May Simon Tomlinson announced his resignation with immediate effect,
• 29th July Fanie V Rensburg was appointed CEO, coming in from Shoden Systems, where he had held the position of MD, finally joining the company in August.
• Also in July, Faritec announced the appointment of Arvind Gupta as Financial Director with effect from 1 August 2009
• Within the past month Jayendra Naidoo has resigned from the board.
• 23rd September Faritec announced a net loss after tax of R123m