Pinnacle shares extend rout on bribery charge

Shares of mid-cap South African technology firm Pinnacle Holdings extended their slide into a second day on Wednesday (26/03/2014), tumbling 21% after a company director was arrested this month for allegedly trying to bribe a senior police official.

The hardware and software distributor lost a quarter of its market value on Tuesday, when police said they had charged Executive Director Takalani Tshivhase with allegedly offering a 5 million rand ($464,400) bribe to a police lieutenant general to secure a contract.

Tshivhase has denied the charges.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange also told Reuters it was investigating whether Pinnacle violated rules on timely disclosure by waiting 20 days to announce Tshivhase’s arrest.

The 59-year-old was arrested on March 5 and released on bail the same day. On March 19, days before the company announced the charges, Tshivhase sold 4 million rand of Pinnacle shares, according to a regulatory filing. - Reuters