• Company said it has agreed with ZSE that its shares be temporarily suspended from trading
  • PPC is 1 of the 3 dual listed counters on the ZSE
  • PPC notes that an investigation into the dealings on the ZSE found the company innocent of any wrongdoing

Dual listed PPC, which has a primary listing on the Johansburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa and a secondary listing on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), has issued a statement following a 1 month of overall trading suspension on the ZSE.

“Further to the announcement by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Zimbabwe on 28 July 2020 that investigations into the dealings on the ZSE had been completed and that as a condition for the resumption of trading on the ZSE from 3 August 2020, trading in, inter alia, the shares of PPC is to remain suspended on the ZSE platform, pending further engagement on the matter” reads part of the statement.

The statement which was jointly prepared with the ZSE, stressed further that the press statement issued by the Minister noted that PPC was not involved in any malpractice linked to the parallel foreign currency market. In addition, the ZSE informed that PPC is in full compliance with listing rules of the ZSE.

The company said that the ZSE and PPC have agreed to halt trading in the shares of PPC Limited pending finalisation of the modalities on the resumption of trading and that it will will advise the market of any further developments on this matter.

The government of Zimbabwe ordered the suspension of ZSE trading on the 26th of June following which the market had registered staggering gains upwards of 650% on a year to date scale. Demand was very high as investors sought cover in stocks as the ZWL crushed.

The government accused the stock market for causing perpetual currency depreciation through speculative bets. Dual listed counters particularly Old Mutual, were targeted as having a significant impact in psychological benchmarking the ZWL$ through the Old Mutual Implied Rate. The rate is a culmination of relative price value in 2 markets given that the underlying asset remains the same.

The government together with the ruling party ZANU PF recommended that dual listings be withdrawn with the latter taking it as far as accusing Old Mutual, the company of sabotaging the economy. Trading is now set to resume next week on Monday 3 August after a month of no action.

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