BDC loses P300m as Sechaba stock crashes
Friday, November 24, 2017
BDC chief financial officer, Mbako Mbo
In the 12 months to June 2017, Sechaba Breweries, which was 26% owned by BDC before selling down to 24%, saw its share price on the BSE tumble 31% from P29 per share to about P20 per share.
At the beginning of the financial year, BDC’s 26% shareholding in Sechaba translated to 34.58 million shares valued at P1.01 billion. But at the end of the financial year after the 31% drop in the share price, the value of the investment in Sechaba had dropped to P691 million, representing a fall in value of over P300 million.
It is a clear signal that the government’s purse is empty and that our own behaviour has left veterinary officials fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. We have been here before. During COVID-19, many of us thought we knew better. We ignored simple rules, we carried on as if the danger was someone else’s problem, and the virus took lives and left our economy on its knees. We are still broke from that experience. Yet now, with FMD...