Trustco makes its mark on the JSE

TRUSTCO made its presence felt on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) when it listed on the JSE’s Africa Board on Thursday morning, selling 65 000 shares within the first three minutes of trading.

The Trustco Group of Companies made history as the first entity to list on the Africa Board, which was launched on Thursday evening to coincide with the listing of the first company on the Board.
The Africa Board forms part of the JSE’s long-term strategy to promote the growth of capital markets on the African continent, where top African companies can be traded on the JSE.
Trustco’s shares were listed at a starting price of N$0.72, and within three minutes of trading, the share price had risen to N$0.73.
Trustco Managing Director Quinton van Rooyen said the company was busy with a capital-raising exercise of hundreds of millions to carry out its expansion programme.
‘If we had stayed in Namibia, our capital requirement would’ve been met, but we want to expand into other parts of the region,’ he said.
In this regard, he said there was insufficient liquidity in Namibia for the company to meet its expansion plans, hence the listing on the Africa Board.
Trustco’s core operational focus is on micro-insurance, education and micro-financial services, but it also has investments in property, property development, aircraft charter services, management services, publishing and printing.
The company began its acquisition trail by acquiring the Institute of Open Learning in 2005, followed by the acquisition of Dex Financial Services Pty Ltd in 2007, which will serve as the first step in marketing the Group’s services and products in the South African market.
Van Rooyen also relayed Trustco’s plans to continue taking its business model and continue making acquisitions outside Namibia, with talks currently begin held with companies in Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana and South Africa.
JSE Executive Head of the Africa Board, Maureen Dlamini, described Trustco’s listing on the Africa Board as a grand opportunity for expansion through increased accessibility and visibility of the company.
‘We have so many good companies in Africa, but they may not have the capacity to raise the capital. We will work with and market the company. The listing gives room for expansion, especially for companies such as Trustco with a strategic view to expand in Africa,’ she said.
Dlamini also noted that Trustco’s listing on the Africa Board of the JSE would not only be good for the company, but for Namibian business as a whole. She said because Trustco was listed on both the Namibian Stock Exchange and on the Africa Board of the JSE, this would be noted as ‘NSX/JSE’ when trading, thus generating the interest of potential investors in looking at what other Namibian companies may have to offer.
She explained that the Africa Board had opted for the dual-listing model so that the local investor would still be able to trade through their local broker, opening up opportunities for both investor and broker.
‘Opportunities are presented for Namibia also because Namibian shareholders come out better,’ she said, noting that the same dual-listing model would be applied with other African countries listing on the JSE’s Africa Board.
John Mandy, Director of the Namibia Stock Exchange, also noted the choice presented to Namibian investors in this regard. ‘We’re not taking anything away from Namibian shareholders. We’ve ensured that it is a very democratic process where shareholders can exercise the right to trade either on the Namibian Stock Exchange or on the JSE,’ he explained.
Van Rooyen reiterated that Trustco would remain rooted in Namibia, noting this as a reason that the company had listed on the Africa Board as opposed to the JSE’s main board.
While Trustco is currently the only company listed on the Africa Board, Dlamini stated that the JSE had been pleasantly surprised by the interest in the Africa Board, and that serious talks with about five companies are currently ongoing.
‘It’s easy to list a company, but it’s about what happens afterwards,’ she said, noting the challenges that company would have to face to remain productive even after its listing.
Van Rooyen described the listing as a step towards Africa’s efforts to dealing with the financial crisis on a global scale. ‘When we were planning this, we didn’t foresee the nosedive in markets. But we do see the opportunities, and if Africa is the last frontier in getting the world out of recession, lets take that step’ by embracing opportunities such as these, he said.
‘The bulls and the bears will have their day,’ van Rooyen said just before the listing. ‘As a company, we can only deliver on our promise.’
nangula@namibian.com.na