CEMENTITIOUS product group PPC’s share price has plummeted more than 20 percent over a week after the group announced related party and institutional shareholder changes.
The share price was down 2.15 percent to R4.56 yesterday afternoon, this after the share price fell steadily from R5.60 at last Wednesday’s close.
The group, which has had to be significantly restructured in the past two years to reduce debt and recover into a financially healthier position, announced on Monday that the Public Investment Corporation had doubled its shareholding in PPC from 5.37 percent to 10.25 percent.
Then yesterday, Value Capital Partners (VCP), the investment manager to VCP H4 QI Hedge Fund and various other funds, said it had disposed of a beneficial interest in PPC shares worth about R215.53 million to bring its shareholding in the company to 13.75 percent.
VCP, through its various funds, has been an investor in PPC since August 2017. It had periodically taken advantage of the decline in the PPC share price to increase its shareholding since then.
However, following the rebound in the PPC share price in recent months, PPC had become a disproportionate share of VCP’s total portfolio, hence the sale of the shares.
VCP will continue to be represented on PPC’s board and its various sub-committees by Antony Ball and Nono Mkhondo, who would continue to provide support to PPC as it executes its strategy to unlock further value for shareholders, the group said.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday, the sale of shares worth R25m held by PPC chief executive Roland van Wijnen was announced by the group.
Van Wijnen had been a shareholder of PPC since September 2019, and PPC said he sold his shares to rebalance his investment portfolio. Van Wijnen still holds 4.23 million PPC shares.
PPC, leading provider of building materials and solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, lifted revenue 20 percent to R5.1 billion in the six months to September 30, 2021, following a 12 percent increase in cement sales volumes and the positive impact of hyperinflation accounting on PPC Zimbabwe’s financials.
At that time, its capital restructuring was nearing completion, the business was in a resilient financial position, and the need for a capital raise had been averted.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE