23 December 2005
	DCM: electronic equipment STELLA VISTA By Michael Coulson

Turnaround not as good as it looks Ord price: 10c PE ratio: 5,0 Market cap R14m 12-month high 20c; low 3c Year to Aug 31 Turnover Rm Operating profit Rm Pretax profit Rm Headline earnings per share (c) NAV per share (c) 2001 33,1 3,9 2,9 1,3 15,7 2002 19,5 (8,8) (9,8) (5,4) 10,0 2003 35,0 (0,65) (2,8) (1,8) 9,1 2004 16,0 (7,7) (8,7) (7,8) 1,7 2005 19,8 0,43 0,66 2,0 3,6 % chge 24 n/a n/a n/a 118 Trading vol 12-month average ('000): 726/month © Financial Mail At first glance, these results show an excellent turnaround that accelerated in the second half, as first-half HEPS were only 0,3c. Sadly, this is misleading: year-end results benefited from a R2,1m writeback, a reversal from the previous year when a pretax loss was accompanied by a R2,1m tax charge. In fact, operating profit fell from R288 000 in the first half to R145 000 in the second. Stella is continually improving its product range, in which it remains a world leader. But there's no meaningful comment on the outlook. 23December2005