Steinhoff’s share price collapsed for the second day in a row on Tuesday, following a trading update on Monday that its annual financial results for the year ending September would be presented in an unaudited format.

Read: Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste quits

The company said that it’s auditors “had not yet finalised their review of certain matters and circumstances, most of which were raised by the criminal and tax investigation in Germany.” This resulted in a violent reaction in the share price, which shed 10% on Monday alone.

In early morning trade on Tuesday, the share price began positively, rising as high as R51.40 at one point before turning negative. Another sharp drop came in the afternoon, which saw the share price sink 8% for the day to close at R46.25 per share. This means that since Friday, the company has seen more than R40 billion erased from its market value in just two days.

Steinhoff

Listen to the podcast: The company needs to provide clarity and solve these problems – JM Busha

Some investors might treat this as an opportunity to buy shares for the long-term though, providing they believe the company’s integrity is beyond reproach, but Steinhoff needs to provide clarity quickly, this is according to Busha who was speaking on the Moneyweb at Midday show on Tuesday.

36ONE analyst Louis Kruger seems to think that what has happened to Steinhoff on Tuesday is a culmination of a whole range of issues. (36ONE does not hold any positions in Steinhoff). “Obviously it hasn’t been handled too well, and I think some investors are just desperate to get out. There has been a lot of bad news hanging over the stock with accounting problems, tax problems, and I think the last two days you are seeing a capitulation.”

Kruger also points to problems with investors understanding what exactly Steinhoff is. “The perpetual acquisitions and restructuring they undertake makes it hard to get a grip on how the underlying businesses have been performing, and certainly some of those acquisitions are not performing as desired. Their strategy seems to be doing deals, they are corporate financiers if anything.”

Wednesday will provide the best platform for management to engage the investment community and address these fears.