August 20, 2019

Hippo Valley shares suspended on ZSE

Spread the love

Ndaka Majaka

HIPPO Valley Estates Limited has applied for voluntary suspension of its shares from trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).

ZSE Chief Executive, Justin Bgoni, said the decision was reached after the sugar producer failed to publish its earnings for the full year to March 2019 on a third extension request.

“The ZSE advises members of the investing public that it has put a halt in the trading of Hippo shares on the ZSE according to Clause 4.13.2 of the ZSE Trading Rules and Procedures.

“This development has been necessitated by a formal request made by Hippo for the suspension of trading in its securities after it failed to publish its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2019 as per the previous public notices,” Bgoni said in a statement yesterday (Monday).

This comes as the firm’s parent company, South African sugar producer Tongaat Hulett, last week moved to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange.

Tongaat Hulett said the move was part of cost cutting efforts as it seeks to streamline its shareholding structure amid low trading volumes in the London-listed stock.

Tongaat, which said in April it would restate financial information after a formal review, revealed the company had been manipulating its financials, voluntarily suspended trading in its shares in Johannesburg and London in June.

Going forward, the ZSE has formally requested the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe to consider the application for the suspension in terms of section 64 (a) (ii) of the Securities and Exchange Act, Chapter 24:25, as amended.

“The investing public will be advised of the determination by the commission as soon as it becomes available,” Bgoni said.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this:
%d bloggers like this: