Ayo Technology Solutions has delayed the publishing of its annual financial statements, saying it would be done a month later than expected.
The group did not give a reason for the delay.
The company had been expected to report its earnings for the year ended August on Friday, but said due to a delay the results were now expected on January 16.
Controversy has surrounded Ayo over several years.
Earlier in 2024, Ayo and African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI), another company associated with businessperson Iqbal Survé, came close to having their shares suspended from the JSE after both failed to release their annual reports within the prescribed time period.
Ayo 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 had failed to publicly disclose money that was moved between related companies. The fine related to Ayo, its holding company and major shareholder AEEI and transactions with asset manager 3 Laws Capital.
Ayo’s reputation was also sullied when the Mpati commission of inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation 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.
In mid-2023, AEEI unbundled its 49.36% stake in Ayo.
Earlier in the year, the group had set itself a period of 1.5 years to turn around its fortunes — with a strong focus on cutting costs — as the group continued to be unprofitable in the six months to end-February.
Revenue for the period increased by 0.19% to R1.015bn compared with previous comparable period.
The interim loss before tax decreased by 62.02% to R98m, though the headline loss per share per share — which strips out the effects of one-off items — improved by 58.14% to 33.12c.
At the time, management said it believed its ongoing banking crisis had resulted in a significant amount of time and focus on a slew of court cases, which had had “a negative impact on the group’s ability to optimise its cash on hand and return on its investments, which impacts the company’s ability to acquire other companies”.
The firm 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.
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