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Business Reporter

Quick service restaurants (QSR) group, Simbisa Brands Limited, is scheduled to migrate to the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) following its de-listing from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).

Simbisa will become the fifth company to list on the US dollar denominated bourse after Seed Co International, Bindura, Caledonia and Padenga Holdings.

“The directors of Simbisa Brands Limited (the “Company”) wish to advise all shareholders and the investing public that the board has approved the de-listing of the Company from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, immediately followed by its listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (the Transaction),” Simbisa said in a cautionary statement.

“Further details of the transaction will be provided to shareholders once all regulatory processes have been finalised. Shareholders are therefore advised to exercise caution and consult their professional advisers when trading in the company’s shares.”

Despite a challenging operating environment for the financial year 2022, Simbisa recorded growth in earnings, surpassing the pre-Covid-19 performance.

Although the business environment is still volatile due to inflationary pressures and exchange rate fluctuations, Simbisa remains upbeat about its future performance and continues on the recovery path following easing of Covid-19 trading restrictions together with robust implementation of its business model.

“With the easing of trading restrictions in our operating markets, trading capacity has scaled up, and with that, customer counts have shown a recovery. This highlights the robustness and resilience of Simbisa’s operating model, which stands the group on solid ground to ride the wave of recovery into financial year (FY2023) and beyond as we leave the worst of the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic behind us,” said chief executive officer Basil Dionisio.

For FY2022, customer counts grew 28,6 percent versus the prior year, driven by continued investment in new store rollouts and successful marketing and promotional initiatives in the review period.

Real average spend grew by 10,3 percent year-on-year. Group revenue grew 76 percent to $72,9 billion amid a challenging operating landscape.

For the Zimbabwe market, revenue grew 48 percent and 214 percent in the region. In the region, (excluding the impact of the Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate depreciation), revenue increased by 38 percent in USD terms, from a 30 percent increase in customer counts.

According to the group, the operation continues to generate all its foreign currency from the sale of its products in the local market in line with the multi-currency framework prevailing and therefore does not have access to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe foreign currency auction system.

Listing on the VFEX will help the group unlock value while raising foreign currency on the bourse.

The VFEX has anticipated to have an exciting 2022 with increased liquidity as more listings are already in the pipeline for this year.

Earlier this year, the VFEX indicated more interest was coming from mining firms in particular, as they look forward to unlocking value on the exchange.

A subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), the US$ denominated exchange was launched in October 2020 to allow companies to raise capital in foreign currency for their expansion projects as well as importation of raw materials and equipment.