Business

HARARE – Zimbabwe will always give  preferential treatment to Chinese investors as they stood by the country during tough times, Indigenisation minister Francis Nhema said. He, however, said government will enact legislative pieces that restrict and govern the Asians’ investment. “The Chinese are particularly offered preferential treatment because they were there when things were bad,”…

HARARE – Cigarette manufacturer British American Tobacco (BAT) says its trading is flat, with volumes one percent lower in the five months to May 2014 compared to prior comparable period. Its managing director Lovemore Manatsa said he expects improved volumes in the second half of the year, adding that the current performance is normal during…

HARARE – South Africa-based cement maker PPC is mulling right sizing its Zimbabwean unit as part of strategies to contain costs. Richard Tomes, joint managing director for South Africa, said their distribution costs relative to competitors were slightly higher because they are far away from the main market. “That sort of justifies our Zimbabwe project,”…

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) remains the biggest bourse by market capitalisation in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Central African Stock Exchanges (Case) handbook launched recently, the local bourse is ahead of the Botswana, Malawi and Zambia stock exchanges. Despite depressed trades since mid-last year, characterised by erosion in value of shares, the…

HARARE – Global brewer SABMiller says the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe has affected the bottom-line of its subsidiary Delta Corporation (Delta). “The economic environment in Zimbabwe hampered the performance of our associate, Delta, with lager volumes declining by 18 percent,” said Alan Clark, SABMiller chief executive. “However, traditional beer volumes grew strongly at 12…

HARARE – Tetrad Holdings Limited (Tetrad) has received a $31 million recapitalisation boost from its shareholders. Its chairperson Miccah Moyo said the group recapitalised its subsidiaries with capital injections of $30,7 million into Tetrad Investment Bank (TIB), $0,6 million to Multiridge and $0,025 to Tetrad Financial Services. “The capitalisation was made to strengthen the operations…

HARARE – Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) has secured an $18,5 million loan from the PTA Bank, officials say. This comes as the company has been rocked by divisions as a group of shareholders — led by Nicholas Van Hoogstraten — has been pushing for the board’s ouster over a number of operational issues, including…

HARARE – Standard Chartered may be forced to abandon its operations in Zimbabwe if the government pushes ahead with a bill to limit foreign investors’ holdings in banks to 25 percent, the bank’s Africa chief executive Diana Layfield said. The financial institution wholly owns Standard Chartered Zimbabwe. A bill floated last week but not yet…

Zimbabwe’s exports to Zambia increased by 18,8 percent to $115,7 million in 2013 from $97,3 million prior year. However, trade facilitation body Zimtrade said the trade gap between the two countries widened to $146,4 million as Zimbabwe imported $262 million more from Zambia during the year. Zambia is Zimbabwe’s second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa…

HARARE – More delistings loom on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) this year, according to a report in the latest 2014 Central African Stock Exchange (Case) handbook released on Wednesday. This comes as a record 12 companies departed from the local bourse on the back of slackening economic growth and depressed financial performance, among other…