Johannesburg - Investment holding company Tiso Blackstar yesterday announced that it was planning to move its AIM listing in London to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to improve the company’s visibility and share liquidity.
Tiso Blackstar said if the London listing transfer was successful then the company’s shares would be simultaneously admitted to the main board of the JSE.
The company also reported that its latest interim results showed its intrinsic net asset value had tripled from a pre-acquisition value of R1.6 billion to R4.4bn.
Tiso Blackstar, which has interests that include media, industrial and property assets, said it was looking to buy more media assets in the rest of Africa.
The group said yesterday it had generated net profit of R334.1 million for the six months to June up 335 percent from R76.9m in the same six months last year.
Jean Pierre Verster, a 36ONE Asset Management analyst, said the company had done well, particularly in bedding down mergers and acquisitions, selling off smaller assets and focusing its energies on large profitable divisions.
“I think it is a reasonable set of results given the amount of corporate activity the group has embarked on… the buyout of Times Media minorities and the change in name after the acquisition of the 22.9 percent stake in Kagiso Tiso Holdings were major events,” Verster said.
However, Tiso Blackstar’s shares reacted badly on the JSE yesterday falling by as much as 5.1 percent.
The company’s shares were last quoted down 2.09 percent at R11.25.
Buyout
A major highlight for the group, in the six months to June, was the buyout of Times Media Group, which owns publications like the Sunday Times and the Sowetan newspapers, and the acquisition of a 22.9 percent interest in Kagiso Tiso held by Tiso Investment Holdings and the Tiso Foundation.
The group said it intended to consolidate the majority of its value within a select number of controlled large investments, between four and six, in order to significantly influence strategy and growth and would utilise effort and capital towards projects with critical mass.
The group said over the past three years it had used free cash flow to build a significant portfolio of broadcast assets in South Africa and other African countries and was fast becoming the broadcasting market leader in Ghana and Kenya.
The company is looking at concluding similar deals in Nigeria and Uganda.
“Our strategy of partnering with existing best-in-market players is proving successful, with our Kenyan investment performing well ahead of expectations and Ghana retaining its leading position in the market despite a tough operating environment. As a result, TMG’s earnings and asset mix is becoming more diversified with potential for further significant growth,” it said.
36One’s Verster said the performance of the media division was mixed given the pressure that the media industry faced.
“It is a continuing trend, the print media was under pressure, industrial (Hirt and Carter & Uniprint) held up well and then there are the radio assets. I think the market will give the group more time to see how these develop,” he said.
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