Management believes the share would perform better in this sector as investors are wary of investing in companies that fall under what is seen as the higher-risk development sector.

Acc-Ross, originally promoted as a golf estate, residential and leisure property development group, has had a torrid time, with its share price plunging 85% since listing in February at R1.

The company is now trading at about 15c a share.

Acc-Ross listed on AltX with a market capitalisation of R877,9m. This has dwindled as trades caused a steady drop in price.

Fund managers have said that Acc-Ross’s higher risk, as well as its lack of institutional shareholders, contributed to the volatile performance of its shares.

On June 22 Acc-Ross announced the appointment of Wilf Robinson as CEO to turn it around. Former CEO Jaco Verster is now the group’s new projects manager, and charged with finding new developments.

Robinson, former CEO of Absa Private Bank, has experience in governance and funding. He said yesterday part of his “new broom sweeps clean role” was to review all the group’s property projects.

“We are disposing of some (property projects) which we consider noncore,” he said.

Robinson said the company would prefer to remain listed on the JSE but in another form.

“We are viewed incorrectly by investors as purely a property development company. We see ourselves more in the hotel and leisure sector,” he said.

“Based on that there are different price-to-earnings (ratios) for hotel and leisure than property development, and we could unlock proper share value.

“Obviously we would have to demonstrate to the market that we are a player in that sector.”

Robinson said all of Acc-Ross’s major developments had hotel rights, and that all but one were leisure destinations.

The only project that was not a leisure destination was the Gardiner Ross golf-estate residential development in Centurion.

He conceded the company’s value had been “destroyed”, and laid the blame for this on the market’s perception of Acc-Ross as a “development company”.

“Development companies around the world trade at a major discount to net asset value.” One of the options Acc-Ross was looking at was “corporate activity”.

“We believe we need a shareholder of reference, preferably from the hotel and leisure sector, to bring that expertise on board so that we can unlock value.”

The firm would like to move to the JSE’s hotel and leisure sector in six months. “There is huge value here and I don’t believe (the company) was correctly managed and governed previously. When we get that right I believe there is good upside potential in the share price,” Robinson said.

But he did not rule out the possibility of Acc-Ross delisting, saying it depended on plans of the shareholder that came in after any corporate action.