Ububele to consolidate shares

Cape Town - Newly listed agribusiness and food group Ububele Holdings will look to consolidate its billions of issued shares as soon as practically possible.

Ububele debuted on the JSE following a reverse listing of AltX's diary products group Milkworx, a process that increased the number of shares in issue to over 8.7 billion.

Ububele Holdings CEO Theo Kleinhans said on Monday the executive was "very aware" that the company's share price was vulnerable to large jumps in percentage, with so many shares in issue.

By midday, over 45 million Ububele Holdings shares had changed hands at 4 cents per share. The bid spread offer was 3c and 4c/share, meaning a potential of a 25% swing in intra-day trading.

At these prices, Ububele carries a market capitalisation of between R260m and R350m.

Ububele would consolidate its shares ahead of its first set of results in June next year, said Kleinhans.

Based on Ububele's current share price, it seemed likely executives would opt to consolidate its shares on a 10-for-one basis.

Turning to the Ububele business - which comprises specialist food processing and agricultural inputs such as pesticides and herbicides - Kleinhans said trading levels were ahead of expectations.

Ububele expected to announce some acquisitions shortly.

"We want to grow this business. Last year we saw 57% growth coming from acquisitions, and 43% from organic growth," said Kleinhans.

He also scuppered thoughts that Milkworx, which has operated at a loss for a number of years, only had value as a listed shell.

Milkworx's ice cream businesses, Avondale and Creamstar, would be incorporated into Ububele, he said. "These businesses fit into our business model very well."

- Fin24.com