Barely a few weeks after AB InBev Zambian subsidiary made its debut to Africa’s 250 by market capitalization of $336 million, Zambian Breweries PLC on 16 July celebrated 22 years of its stock on the local bourse, the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE). The celebration was done in style with bell ringing at the stock exchange this morning. At the center of the hype was Country Director Jose Moran.
Over a two decade period Zambian Breweries has grown its market capitalization from $10 million in 1997, to over $336 million in 2019 earning it making the largest company regularly trading on the stock exchange.
During the same period, the company has seen its beer production capacity grow four-fold. To finance this growth, Zambian Breweries relied on its LuSE listing to generate capital and keep pace with demand.
LuSE Chief Executive Officer Priscilla Sampa in commenting said, “The future of the LuSE as well as that of companies presently listed is bright, as is the future of any company that chooses to list and access the capital that can be secured through listing.”
Country Director Jose Moran attributed the brewer’s success in listing to the bourses capacity to offer potential shareholders lliquidity in the trading of its shares, confidence in the future of the business, as well as a chance for the public to own part of one of the largest manufacturing companies in Zambia.
“Through the years we have been able to use LuSE as a mechanism to raise capital to pay for a lot of the investments we have been making. In the last five years we have been very active in increasing our capacity through the opening of the malting plant in the Lusaka South MFEZ and upgrading the capacity at our Ndola plant. We are also working on a major upgrade of the Lusaka brewery which will take us to the next level,” Moran said.
Moran appreciated the strategic partnerships, which have more than doubled production capacity in the last decade aiding creation of jobs, widened the tax base pool and has boosted the economy.
“We are happy with the relationship we have with LuSE. We appreciate the openness and transparency and willingness to push for more liquidity exhibited by LuSE. As a responsible corporate citizen, Zambian Breweries shares LuSE’s drive to ensure transparency in order to create a liquid, vibrant market that will benefit investors, companies and the nation,” he said.
Compiled by Kondwani Phiri
