Reliq Health is not worth the risk, this portfolio manager says

Reliq Health Technologies (Reliq Health Technologies Stock Quote, Chart, News TSXV:RHT) may be turning a corner and headed for better days but the company still has a lot to prove after accounting issues plagued the company last year. So says Peter Imhof, vice president and portfolio manager for AGF Investments, who says it’s a case of once burned, twice shy with Reliq.

Hamilton-based software as a Service company for the patient home monitoring sector Reliq was flying high early in 2018 with its share price climbing from pennies to above $2.50 literally within months. But the dream ended pretty quickly after it was revealed last fall that the company was to restate parts of its financial information for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, due to an audit showing problems over revenue reporting.

In effect, management admitted that it couldn’t recognize much of their revenue for the quarter, with the impact coming fast and swift as investors dropped the stock and lawsuits sprang up, both from shareholders and by Reliq itself against former employees which it charges had been at the root of the accounting issue.

And though Reliq last month filed a restatement of its financials, the worries about management still linger, says Imhof.

“[The stock] did quite well for about six months or so and then they had some accounting issues and revenue recognition and the stock had come off quite a bit,” says Imhof, speaking to BNN Bloomberg on Monday. “When you have mistakes like that in terms of accounting, they obviously don’t have enough constraints and compliance where you can feel comfortable in this story.”

“I understand that they’ve signed some new contracts and the stock has been moving back up here. From talking to a few people it does sound like things are looking brighter for them and they’ve got better visibility in terms of revenue and contracts, but I’ve just decided to stay away,” says Imhof.

“I was already burned on this story and don’t feel like going back to it at this point in time,” he says.

Lately, Reliq has made a number of moves, signing six new contracts to its iUGO Care platform with healthcare organizations in Texas, announcing a partnership with patient monitoring and case management company Achieve Health Management, which has services with almost 70,000 people across the US, as well as a new partnership with diabetes care company Smart Meter based in Florida.

On the new contracts in Texas, CEO Dr. Lisa Crossley said that the six new clients include “physician practices, home health agencies, a home hospice organization and a pharmacy network with multiple locations across South Texas.” Crossley said that together they serve over 3,000 chronic disease and palliative patients and that Reliq aims to go live with all six clients next month.

Reliq announced on Monday that it will host a shareholder webinar on December 2 to review the company’s quarterly financial statements for the first quarter, fiscal 2020, for the period ended September 30, 2019, and to provide a corporate update.