JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The CEO of South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd (JSE) said on Wednesday she was “cautiously optimistic” on the outlook for new company listings on the bourse for the rest of the year as the market stabilises following the country’s May elections.
Africa’s biggest bourse by market capitalisation has been attracting more listings this year after see minimal initial public offerings in South Africa and a wave of delistings from 2020.
“We’ve seen four new listings this year. The outlook for the rest of the year is looking positive but we’re cautiously optimistic,” group CEO Leila Fourie told Reuters after the JSE operator reported a slight fall in half-year profit.
“There is a strong unbundling theme.”
Listings so far in 2024 include second-hand vehicle trader WeBuyCars and poultry producer Rainbow Chicken, which were unbundled from their parent companies. Medical cannabis company Cilo Cybin and U.S. Powerfleet also listed this year.
Supermarket group Pick n Pay is set to unbundle its discount grocery retailer Boxer and list it before year-end.
Earlier, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd posted a 0.2% fall in half-year headline earnings per share to 606 cents and flat profit after tax of 492.7 million rand in the six months ended June 30, impacted by lower equity trading activity in a challenging economic environment.
Revenue grew 4.3% to 1.5 billion rand, supported by non-trading income, which now represents 39% of total operating income.
After a slow start to 2024, the value of equities traded on the JSE started to recover in the second quarter, with the trend extending into July following South Africa’s May elections which resulted in a new unity government including the pro-business Democratic Alliance party.
($1 = 18.3700 rand)
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
