Johannesburg - The SacOil share closed unchanged at 30c on the JSE on Friday, four days after the lifting of a suspension that had been in place since May 31.
There was room for improvement for SacOil, the African gas and oil exploration company, which also restarted trade on London’s Alternative Investment Market on Monday, an analyst said after it recorded low trading volumes.
The share had opened at 27c in Johannesburg on Monday, the same price as at the time of suspension.
Lionel Therond, an analyst at SBG Securities, said on Friday that shareholders were frustrated because they were in the dark about the oil firm’s plans. “Communication is an issue. It [SacOil] is not explaining what its long-term strategy is. There is also no visible progress on the operations.”
The company had yet to update the market on operations and strategy after the recent overhaul of the board and management team, he added.
SacOil was delisted in May when the majority of its board members resigned after a meeting at which shareholders rejected a resolution to convert a loan into equity.
It relisted on Monday with a new high-profile board headed by Tito Mboweni, the former governor of the Reserve Bank, as the non-executive chairman.
Mboweni is also the non-executive chairman of AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa’s largest gold producer.
Mzuvukile Maqetuka, a former ambassador to Algeria, is a non-executive director, as are Vusi Pikoli, the former head of the National Prosecuting Authority, and Ignatius Sehoole, a non-executive director of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
SacOil’s new chief executive is Roger Rees, the former financial director of Murray & Roberts.
SacOil previously announced it had debt of R238 million and planned a recapitalisation of R800m, which would include a R570m rights issue priced at 27c a share.
The PIC, its biggest shareholder, had committed to support the rights offer to the tune of R329m, the company said previously.
The SacOil share price was stable after opening at 27c on Monday. It went to 30c and then consolidated at that level on a volume of about 10 million shares traded for the week.
SacOil said last week that there had been enthusiasm and that the share price had increased by more than 11.5 percent in early trading on volume of more than 7 million shares.
“This is a clear indication of the positive support by the shareholders of the R800m recapitalisation.”
SacOil has several oil assets in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Botswana. According to its annual report, the company plans to build its asset base.
The share closed at 30c on the JSE on Friday, after hitting a low of 28c. - Business Report