African fishing giant Oceana to list

Africa’s largest fishing group, Oceana, will become the latest company to list on the A2X alternative exchange, which is licensed to allow secondary listings.

The company, valued at R9.26bn on the JSE, said in a brief statement on Monday that its shares will be available from April 3.

Oceana’s primary listing on the JSE and its issued share capital will not be affected by the A2X listing.

A growing number of companies listed on the A2X over the past few years.

These include JSE top-40 companies such as Remgro, Discovery, AngloGold Ashanti and Impala Platinum.

A2X CEO Kevin Brady told Business Day in December that lower trading fees and the ability to narrow the bid-offer spreads of the prices of listed securities is saving the investment market about R500m annually.

“From an investment perspective, Oceana realised the advantages of listing shares on the JSE 75 years ago, which has resulted in considerable growth. The A2X listing presents another opportunity to provide additional value to our shareholders,” Oceana CFO Zaf Mahomed said in a statement.

The Oceana listing will bring the total number of companies on the A2X to 108, with a combined market cap of around R6.7-trillion.

Oceana said late last month that it expects its headline earnings to increase at least one-fifth when it reports its next set of results. Canned fish sales volumes, which include the Lucky Star brand, rose 33% year on year to 3.5-million cartons as higher inventory levels enabled the company to meet continued strong market demand, Oceana said in a voluntary trading update for the four months to January 29.

This comes after low stock levels in the same period last year due to the civil unrest in 2021.

Rising prices of chicken, the most widely consumed protein in SA, have made non-perishable food more attractive to cash-strapped consumers, who cannot store fresh foods in refrigerators because of power cuts.