Steinhoff rocked as accounting probe claims retailer’s CEO

Steinhoff International Holdings plunged after its chief executive officer resigned amid accounting irregularities, rocking a company that rapidly expanded from its roots in South Africa into a retail empire spanning Australia, Europe and the US.The owner of the France-based Conforama furniture chain, Mattress Firm in the US and Poundland in the UK said late Tuesday that CEO Markus Jooste quit as it appointed auditor PwC to probe the matter. The stock slumped as much as 60% Wednesday in Frankfurt, wiping out more than €7bn ($8.3bn) in value.The findings mark a striking turnabout for billionaire chairman Christo Wiese, South Africa’s fourth-richest man and Steinhoff’s biggest shareholder, who’s taking over the CEO role on an interim basis. Since he bought into the company in 2014, he’s accelerated an acquisition drive alongside long-term ally Jooste, who has been with the retailer since 1988. In addition to purchases like the UK’s Bensons for Beds, the company has made plays for appliance chain Darty in France and household- goods retailer Argos in Britain.“The trust between Wiese and Jooste is broken, that is why Jooste is out,” Syd Vianello, an independent retail analyst in Johannesburg, said by phone. “Wiese has got a huge amount of money at stake and it’s in his best interest to ensure trust in the company is restored.”Wiese, 76, didn’t immediately respond to calls to his office and mobile phone. He had a net worth of $4.3bn as of Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He and Jooste, 56, both own properties in the scenic wine country around Cape Town, alongside other South African businessmen including Whitey Basson, who ran retailer Shoprite Holdings Ltd for 37 years until earlier this year.Steinhoff shares traded 58% lower at €1.25 as of 10.40am in Frankfurt. The stock closed at €5.075 on its first day of trading in the German city in December 2015, when the company moved its primary listing from Johannesburg.The turmoil has implications for Steinhoff Africa Retail Ltd, which was spun off from its parent in September, and Shoprite, in which Wiese is also the biggest shareholder. Steinhoff Africa slumped as much as 29% in Johannesburg, while Shoprite plunged as much as 6.3%, the biggest fall in almost a year. Steinhoff Africa said CEO Ben la Grange, who’s also chief financial officer of Steinhoff International, resigned.“I doubt Steinhoff will collapse,” Owen Nkomo, CEO of Johannesburg-based money manager Inkunzi Wealth Group, said by phone. “I would much rather take a chance and buy Steinhoff than Bitcoin.”The retailer has indefinitely delayed the release of financial results, which had been scheduled yesterday, citing a criminal and tax investigation in Germany. That probe dates back to 2015, when German authorities raided the European headquarters in that country.Prosecutors have said they’re looking into contracts valued in triple-digit millions of euros that appeared to have been conducted with third parties but may have actually involved different units within the company.The company said in August that “no evidence exists” that Steinhoff broke Germany’s commercial laws. It also said a report in Manager-Magazin that Jooste is among employees being investigated by German prosecutors contained information that was “wrong or misleading.”The company is involved in ongoing civil litigation – including with a former joint-venture partner – and the outcome “should result in monetary remedy to be paid by the group,” Steinhoff said in August.