JOHANNESBURG - Exxaro, one of the largest black-owned coal and heavy mineral companies in South Africa, has been approved for a secondary listing on the A2X from next week. Exxaro’s listing brings the number of securities available for trade on A2X to 36, with a combined market capitalisation of about R1.5 trillion.
Exxaro chief executive Mxolisi Mgojo said the listing signalled the group’s commitment to investors. “At Exxaro we believe one of the keys to remaining relevant is to incorporate emerging technologies into our business operations and our listing on A2X is an example of this,” Mgojo said.
This month Exxaro reported a 13 percent increase in headline earnings for the year ended in December to R7.6 billion, mainly driven by its income from equity investments.
Mgojo said the A2X listing would result in cutting costs. “A2X is leveraging technology in an effort to reduce trading costs which will lead to cost savings for Exxaro investors”, he said.
A2X, ZARX, and 4AX, are alternative stock exchanges that were introduced in South Africa to give competition in the market.
City Lodge Hotel, South Africa’s leading selected services hotel chain that owns lodging brands such as Road Lodge, Town Lodge, City Lodge Hotel and Courtyard Hotel and Fairview in Kenya listed on the A2X earlier this month.
Petrochemicals giant Sasol has also listed on the A2X in February as part of the commitment to adding value for shareholders and providing them with alternative trading platforms.
A2X, which began trading in October 2017, has listings from media, banking, retail, financial services, insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications sectors. Absa’s three precious metal exchange-traded funds and Investec’s exchange-traded notes are also listed on A2X.
The JSE, South Africa’s oldest and biggest bourse, experienced a reduction in the level of activity in primary markets, with fewer new equity listings. Revenue decreased by 5 percent in the year ended December 2019 to R147 million from R155m in 2018 owing to significantly fewer initial public offerings (IPO) for the year as there were five IPOs versus 12 IPOs in 2018.
Exxaro shares rose 9.03percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R95.34.