13 Mar 2017

Government has always envisaged more businesses listing in the stock exchange and participating in the local economy.

Speaking at the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listing reception hosted by BTC, Managing Director of BTC, Mr Anthony Masunga said efforts by Mr Thapelo Tsheole, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BSE towards making this a reality deserve to be applauded.

He said the listing of BTC was a watershed moment in the economic inclusive narrative of Botswana.

“The BTC Initial Public Offering (IPO) was over scribed by over 140 per cent,” he said. This, he said could not have been achieved without the support from the BSE and other key stakeholders such as PEEPA and the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Mr Masunga indicated that the listing of BTC strengthened the company’s resolve to improve its services to customers and deliver shareholder value. “Today, BTC is the best performing stock  locally and our stock is currently trading at P1.23, a 23 per cent appreciation on listing price,” he said.

He noted that this represents a 25.51 per cent appreciation since the beginning of the year and a 46.43 per cent appreciation for those who bought when the share price was the lowest at P0.84.

Mr Masunga further said the company’s net dividend yield at 6.5 per cent compares favourably to most companies on the exchange and is higher than the market average of 4.3 per cent for domestic companies. He said at listing, BTC market value was P1.05 billion and as of March 8 post listing BTC was valued at P1.29 billion.

“In a nutshell, BTC has since listing created wealth to the value of P241.5 million for our shareholders and distributed P90.3million in dividends. We are further energised as we embark on a journey towards contributing to the successful economic development and growth of our nation,” said the Managing Director of BTC.

He said BTC aims to continue being a financially stable corporation while growing the business on all levels guided by best practice standards. “The BTC story is a story about the future, about saving and investing. It is about accelerating the rate of economic growth by stimulating entrepreneurship and investment.

BTC offers potential for financial gain through share value growth and dividends when they are declared, self-wealth generation, greater understanding of and participation in economic activity,” he concluded. ENDS