Shares of Ellies, the South African electronics manufacturer, have stopped trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) this afternoon. This follows the company’s 10 April announcement that it will be getting liquidated.
Since listing on the JSE in 2010, Ellies’ share price has decreased by 99%. The company, founded in 1979, recorded a R106.5 million loss for the six months ended 31 October 2023, 205% worse than the R34.9 million loss in the prior period.
Ellies’ demise on the JSE comes when South African technology companies are embracing listing on the exchange, with mixed fortunes. WeBuyCars, a used car retailer, listed a fortnight ago and is up only 0.15% while Purple Group, the parent company of online equity trading platform EasyEquities, announced a record performance last week.
In January 2024, following worsening financial performance, the Ellies announced that it would be entering business rescue proceedings to try to salvage its operations. However, on 10 April, the company announced that business rescue proceedings had concluded that there was no reasonable prospect for the company to continue operations.
Popular for its subsidiary Elsat which supplied satellite television dishes, Ellies had a strong presence in South Africa and Botswana at its peak. It eventually got into supplying renewable energy products and backup power as South Africa’s power troubles continued.
The company’s share price peaked at R9.50 in May 2013 but by February 2023, it was trading at 5 cents a share. As of the close of trading on 22 April, the company’s market cap was a measly R8 million.