RYAN CHIGOCHE
Efforts to resolve a dispute between Old Mutual and the government over the trading of the financial services group shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) are yet to bear fruit, the company has said.
The shares of Old Mutual Zimbabwe, alongside PPC and Seed Co were suspended from trading on the ZSE after the government accused the trio for having played a part in the routing of the local currency.
Seed Co International migrated to the foreign currency only bourse, the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
“We have been engaging in exploring ways mainly to ensure that the shareholders of Old Mutual Limited who are on the Zimbabwe register can be facilitated to trade,” Old Mutual Zimbabwe group CEO, Sam Matsekete said.
‘’Those engagements are still ongoing between our principals at Old Mutual Limited who are the officers of the entity that was listed on ZSE and the regulators and government.”
He added: “So it’s something that is still being processed. As soon as a solution or a way forward has been established we will definitely come to the market and an announcement will be made.”
In July 2020, Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube, suspended shares of fungible counters – Old Mutual , Seed Co International and PPC Zimbabwe- from trading on the ZSE for 12 months.
Ncube said the stocks had become vehicles for repatriating investments out of the country. This, Ncube said fueled currency distortions and rocketing exchange rate.
The suspension of shares from trading at the ZSE meant that the shares could not be bought on the local bourse or sold on foreign markets.
The suspension was extended to a further 12 months to July this year.
It was not clear whether Ncube restored Old Mutual and PPC Zimbabwe’s fungibility.
In its financial results for the six months to June 30, 2022, Old Mutual reported swung into an inflation-adjusted loss of ZWL$8.6bn in the reviewed period from a profit position of ZWL$31bn in the prior comparative period.
Old Mutual Zimbabwe’s chief financial officer, Takura Mudekunye, attributed this to sub- inflationary investment returns, which he said weighed down the group’s performance.
Old Mutual’s investment and securities fell 9% in the period under review.
Mudekunye said returns on equities and other securities investments trailed annual inflation, which hit 192% in June from 60.7% in January. The spiral continues as the annual inflation rate spiked again in August to 258% from 257% in July this year.
