Brick firm makes strong debut

Shares rose to as high as R1.50 during the early morning session before pulling back to hover around R1.25.

At 10:10, the company's share price was at R1.25, valuing it at R400m. Nearly 1.8 million shares worth just over R2.2m had changed hands, making it the second most active counter on the bourse.

"I don't think it will be a bad listing, looking at South Africa's massive infrastructure projects and the robust growth in the residential building sector," a Cape Town-based trader said.

He added that with heavyweight construction stocks looking "a bit overcooked," investors were likely switch to smaller players such as African Brick Centre.

African Brick Centre's business consists of clay mining, manufacturing of clay semi-face bricks and a retail section. It has two manufacturing facilities in Krugersdorp and Lenasia.

The company raised R45m on Friday via a private placing and the proceeds are expected to be used to construct the new R15m manufacturing facility in Zuurbekom - which is due to begin shortly.

It has 24 retail outlets in five provinces, with seven outlets opened since the beginning of the year, selling 120 million bricks a year.

Six new retail outlets are scheduled to be opened in the next 12 months, the group said.

- I-Net Bridge