The construction of PPC’s cement plant in Zimbabwe remains on track for completion in 2016, the company’s CEO says, even as riots ensue in that country, and as restrictions on some South African goods remain in place.
Speaking on the sidelines of the company’s extraordinary general meeting, at which shareholders approved PPC’s proposed R4bn rights issue unanimously, CEO Darryll Castle suggested it was business as usual on the cement site, even though the rest of the Zimbabwean economy is in a tailspin.
The mill, which is expected to add 700,000 tonnes to PPC’s annual capacity, was crucial to reducing the company’s costs, he said.
The Zimbabwe mill is one of four plants SA’s largest cement maker is building in the rest of Africa to increase sales as growth in its home country slows. It is also one of the reasons PPC is launching the proposed R4bn capital raising and will alleviate short-term pressures on its balance sheet, with the company’s debt expected to peak at between R10bn and R12bn by 2017. PPC’s debt is sitting at R9.2bn, which is almost twice the size of its market value of R4.9bn at Monday’s close.
The extraordinary meeting was called in May after S&P Global Ratings slashed the company’s rating to junk, placing pressure on the cement maker to immediately pay out its bond investors.
In July, PPC paid the R1.6bn due to the bond investors with bridge financing it secured from local banks — at the Johannesburg Interbank Average Rate plus 10%, that PPC said it would repay with the proceeds from the rights offer.
PPC, whose share price has almost halved in 2016 to R7.92 (at Monday’s close), hopes to complete the transaction by September.
