adminTHE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has lifted the temporary suspension from trading of Meikles Limited’s shares.
“The temporary suspension, which took effect on the 16th of this month, was necessitated by the carrying amount of the asset placed with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as disclosed in the company’s audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014,” said ZSE at the time.
But the market announced the lifting of the suspension yesterday morning, without further elaboration.
“Meikles Limited’s suspension has been lifted with immediate effect,” said ZSE.
The ZSE announcement comes after Meikles Africa released its own statement yesterday saying it had put on the back burner new investment and a possible listing of a subsidiary due to the suspension.
Meikles chairman, John Moxon said the ZSE, in its decision to suspend the company, had not engaged them first and therefore broke its own rules of engagement.
“The latest action of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange was implemented without any interaction with Meikles and does not comply with its own rules of engagement,” he said.
“The strategy . . . which was aimed at further expansion in the subsidiaries, the introduction of more investor capital and possibly to even list one subsidiary on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange are on hold for the time being due to present uncertainty,” Moxon said.
“Meikles will be addressing the implications of the suspension, the manner in which it has been implemented and whether there’s any purpose to a listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange,” he said.
Although Moxon was unclear as to the “further expansion in the subsidiaries”, observers point to the indicated expansion of the group’s partly owned Pick’n’Pay stores.
The ZSE had said Meikles reported in its 2014 full year results that it was owed $90.8 million by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, compared with $40.51 million owed by the bank in 2013, without giving an explanation for the sharp increase.
“To clarify the current position, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has committed $76 million of Treasury Bills and other payments in writing, but they’ve not yet been received in full by the company . . . There’s still some negotiation to come on interest and possibly discount implications,” said Moxon. — BH24
Online Reporter