Former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has been named chair of Ayo Technology Solutions, to replace Louis Fourie, with effect from June 12.
The market welcomed the news, with the group’s share price surging 92% to R1.23 on Friday, its highest level in seven months. The JSE-listed software and computer services group has a R423m market capitalisation.
Ramatlhodi has been on the board of Ayo since March 2018 and was appointed as the interim independent non-executive chair in March this year after the resignation of Fourie.
Fourie assumed the role of interim chair in April last year after the death of previous group chair Wallace Mgoqi.
Ramatlhodi, a business person, lawyer and advocate, was previously premier of Limpopo. He was also minister of public service & administration, minister of mineral resources and deputy minister of correctional services.
“The board looks forward to Ramatlhodi’s continued contribution to Ayo,” the group said in a statement.
Cape Town-based Ayo is involved in legal action against Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank, among other institutions, after most local banks said they were not prepared to deal with the company due to the risk involved.
The group courted public attention when it was fined R1.5m about a year ago by the JSE for lack of transparency. At the time, the JSE said Ayo failed to publicly disclose money that was moved between related companies. The fine related to Ayo and holding company and major shareholder AEEI and transactions with asset manager 3 Laws Capital.
Its reputation was also sullied when the Mpati commission of inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) showed in 2020 that the asset manager’s subscription of shares in Ayo was grossly overvalued. The PIC and Ayo have since resolved the matter.
Last month, the company reported it narrowed its losses for the six months to end-February thanks to effective cost-cutting measures. Ayo said retrenchments and restructuring had “resulted in a significant decrease in overall operating expenditure”.
The interim loss before tax decreased 62.02% to R98m, and the headline loss per share — which strips out the effects of one-off items — improved 58.14% to 33.12c.
The technology group has now set itself a year-and-a-half target time to turn around its fortunes — with a strong focus on cutting costs.
“Ayo’s focus for the next 18 months is to strengthen the underlying subsidiaries, contain costs and overcome banking challenges and providing subsidiaries with access to funding lines,” the group said.
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