E&T, iiNet off the pace

Winemaker Evans & Tate, internet services provider iiNet, pharmaceutical manufacturer Chemeq and ticketing technology company ERG are some of the high-profile Western Australian companies that are laggards in the latest total shareholder return survey.

Evans & Tate and iiNet are well-established businesses that hit a crisis over the past year.

In the case of E&T, the chronic oversupply and falling prices in the wine industry caught up with the company and led to the departure of executive chairman Franklin Tate.

At iiNet, its rapid trans-Tasman expansion, including last year’s purchase of OzEmail, ultimately caused serious management problems.

Both companies have sold some of their assets, with E&T selling some east coast wineries and iiNet selling its New Zealand business.

The challenge for E&T’s new chief executive Martin Johnson, and iiNet’s long-serving chief executive Mike Malone, is to restore investor confidence in their companies.

ERG has been disappointing the market with earnings downgrades for several years, and 2005-06 was no exception. The company is a global leader in the development of automated ticketing systems and has multi-million dollar contracts in major cities across the globe, but has been unable to generate consistent profits.

Its latest half-year results featured sales revenue of $91 million and a hefty loss, reflecting increases in the estimated cost of contracts in Sydney, Seattle, Washington, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Animal pharmaceutical producer Chemeq has also disappointed investors, and is now led by chief executive David Williams.