Three years ago, Nasdaq chairman Frank Zarb declared, "We had a (tech) bubble and the bubble has been corrected. This was very healthy."
Unfortunately, tech shares have been getting "healthier" ever since, with the tech-weighted Nasdaq index shedding a further 70% since Zarb' s declaration of the bear market's demise. Not to be outdone, SA's FTSE/JSE information technology index has plummeted 95% since early 2000.
Ranking IT shares on price and market capitalisation performance has become largely an exercise in tallying-up which have fallen least.
With the IT sector's market capitalisation now R7,8bn, the total wiped off stands at about R130bn. Champion loser is Didata, which has shed over R77bn (98%) of its market value since attaining its peak capitalisation of R79bn in September 2000. Didata's share of the sector's total market capitalisation has fallen from a dominant 75% in 2000 to 17%.
The second biggest loser, Datatec, has seen R12bn (95%) in market capitalisation evaporate since March 2000. Other big-name multibillion rand market capitalisation losses include Frontrange's R4bn (96%), Softline's R3,8bn (90%), Prism's R1,5bn (95%), MGX's R1bn (96%) and Idion's 1,2bn (88%).
The market shakeout has dethroned Didata from its number one capitalisation ranking, where it now holds second place, lagging Comparex's market capitalisation by almost a third. This may not be permanent, as Comparex's ultimate position will be determined by the portion of its R1,9bn cash holding that it distributes to shareholders.
In another shakeout Aplitec ousted Datatec from its long-held third position. With its share price running counter to the general bear trend, Aplitec has been one of the few shining lights in a gloomy sector. It ranks as the only IT share trading at a higher price than it reached at the sector's March 2000 peak.
Proving even in bear markets strong fundamentals don't go entirely unrecognised, Aplitec is up 25% since March 2000 and has more than doubled since its May 2000 low.
Since the latter date, almost R500m was added to its market capitalisation, underscoring the wisdom of what Aplitec CEO Serge Belamant terms "serving the secure transaction needs of Africa's emerging mass market".
The dubious honour of registering the biggest slide down the market capitalisation ranks over the past year, goes to Glotec, which slumped from ninth to 21st. Similar slides came from profit disasters MGX, from fifth to 19th, and AST, from sixth to 15th.
Fortunately, the IT sector has not been without star share price performers over the past year, with eight reflecting advances. Leading the pack was Idion with a 12-month gain of 170% and a spectacular 400% rise from its 30c/share all-time low attained in February 2002. This was sufficient to boost Idion's market capitalisation ranking from 21st to 11th.
Frontrange also managed a triple-digit price gain, adding 115% over the past year, and rising 320% off its 27c/share low of February 2002.
Over the past year Mustek, up 85%, also produced a price gain more associated with a bull market. This took Mustek's price rise since its December 2000 90c/share low to 450%, and shifted it from 11th to sixth position.
Other noteworthy performers were Datacentrix, where a 50% prise rise moved it from 18th to eighth position, and ERP.Com which moved from 26th position into 16th place, with a 40% gain in market capitalisation.
