Access Bank targets local investors
By Kabanda Chulu
Tue 30 Apr. 2013, 14:00 CAT
ACCESS Bank Zambia has concluded a Private Placement targeted at local investors from which a total of US$21 million has been received.
The Private Placement will enable the bank convert to a local institution as it seeks to meet the minimum capital requirement of KR104 million (US$20 million).
Access Bank, which is originally from Nigeria, is also listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
"Suffice to say that once we receive all the funds pledged, Access Bank Zambia Limited will be well within the Bank of Zambia's stipulated Capital requirement, with 51 per cent of the Bank vested in the local shareholders," Access Bank Zambia managing director Jekwu Ozoemene said in an interview in Lusaka.
"However, Access Bank Plc will still maintain management control to enable the local related company leverage off the network and connections of the Group."
On macroeconomic fundamentals, Ozoemene said the Zambian economy was strong and moving towards a positive direction, provided political stability and sound macroeconomic policies were maintained.
"We see inflation closing at the target approximately seven per cent. We also foresee the economy expanding at a rate of about seven to eight per cent in view of the anticipated huge infrastructure spending by the government," he said. "On depreciation of the kwacha, the local currency may have depreciated against the US dollar but has actually appreciated against other currencies such as the rand, euro and evidences more of a strengthening of the US dollar than the weakening of the Kwacha."
He dismissed assertions that commercial banks were operating a cartel in the country, resulting in similar lending rates.
"Commercial banks in Zambia (Access Bank being one of them) are in competition with each other thus I find it extremely difficult to support or believe the assertion that such a cartel exists," Ozoemene said.
"Having said that, however, if such a situation is found to operate in this market, then the regulatory authorities should not just stop short at pronouncing the existence of the cartel, but should see it through the apprehending of identified culprits and applying the appropriate sanctions."
Labels: ACCESS BANK, KARTELS
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COMMENT - In my continuous quest to find out who owns what, it is clear that State Street has a very close relationship with NM Rothschild & Sons, the Rothschild family flagship bank. State Street is the
biggest shareholder in Goldman Sachs 19.74 million share, last time I checked, and the
biggest shareholder by far in JP Morgan with 155.28 million shares, and
"has $21.8 trillion in assets under custody and administration". State Street provides pension services to NM Rothschild.
State Street Appointed By NM Rothschild & Sons to Provide Investment Servicing for US$650 Million in Assets
Press Releases
29/01/2007
Edinburgh – 29 January 2007 -- State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), the world's leading provider of financial services to institutional investors, today announced that
it has been appointed to provide an integrated range of investment services to the US$650 million NM Rothschild & Sons Pension Fund. NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd. provides corporate and resource banking, investment banking, private banking and trust services to a wide range of customers .
State Street will provide the fund with custody, investment accounting and securities lending services . The new mandate, which will be supported from State Street’s service centre in Edinburgh, builds upon an existing relationship the fund has with WM Performance Services, the European performance measurement division of State Street. The fund was advised by Watson Wyatt in its search for an investment services provider.
“ State Street’s service solution allows us to maximise the operational efficiency of our fund across a wide spectrum of custody-related services,” said Catherine Palmer, the fund’s pensions manager. ”We are very confident that our existing performance measurement services can be combined within a broader relationship that will serve the fund well for a long time to come.”
“This mandate builds on our success of meeting the complex needs of the European pension fund market,” said Alasdair Reid, head of State Street’s asset owner group in the UK. “Our customers benefit from the integrated package of investment services and depth of experience which State Street has to offer.”
State Street Corporation is the world’s leading specialist in providing institutional investors with investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading services. With $11.9 trillion in assets under custody and $1.7 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2006, State Street operates in 26 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street’s website at www.statestreet.com.
WM Performance Services is one of the world's leading investment performance measurement businesses and is the European performance measurement division of State Street Corporation. Based in Edinburgh, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich, WM measures more than 5,000 investment portfolios based in the key global investment centres and provides an extensive range of services to support better investment decisions.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Carolyn Cichon
+ 1 617 664 8672
Labels: BANKING, KARTELS
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Flood market with local wheat, Cottan urges farmers
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tue 11 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
PETER Cottan says Zambian farmers should flood the local market to depress wheat prices which have jumped 60 per cent since the last quarter of 2010. And Cottan says he is shocked by ZNFU’s call for his arrest over his statement on escalating wheat prices in the country. Wheat prices have surged
to US $530 per tonne from US $320 at the end of the harvest period last October.Cottan, the managing director of National Milling Corporation, said owing to the recent projection of about 200, 000 metric tonnes of the recently harvested wheat, the commodity should fetch US $450 per tonne instead of the current spot price of US $530. He said although wheat prices have gone up by 60 per cent, the price of flour was not expected to rise by the corresponding margin because the final consumers could not contain such a price hike.
Cottan said the current surge in wheat prices on the local market could be attributed to farmers hoarding the commodity to force an increase in price.
He said recent indications from Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) that there was no way the country could be talking of a shortage when wheat harvest was done only 60 days ago should be justified by local farmers flooding the commodity on the market.
“My call to the commercial farmers through the Zambia National Farmers Union is that they should flood the market with the wheat so that our members will purchase the wheat so that we stabilise the food and flour prices,” said Cottan who is also the chairman of the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ).
He claimed that millers and the bakers were absorbing the current high wheat prices which he said were too high to be absorbed by the final consumer of flour products.
Cottan said wheat prices should be reduced if there was a bumper harvest as was the case with maize in last harvest season.
“When you have a surplus, prices should track export parity just as maize has done, and when you have a deficit, the price tracks import parity,” he said. “But when you have prices not coming down when you have a surplus, then it means there is something wrong.”
And Cottan chided ZNFU’s calls for his arrest over his statement on escalating prices of wheat in the country.
Cottan, who also announced that NMC had hiked prices of flour by about K5 000 following the surge in wheat prices, said he was shocked that ZNFU called for his arrest following his statement.
“I believe that I have been a good corporate citizen in the country, I have been serving for the last 23 years and I took this position as MAZ chairman because I wanted to give back to the nation,” he said.
Cottan further said there was need for all industry players to work towards this Friday’s stakeholders meeting to determine the current wheat position in the country.
Labels: KARTELS, PETER COTTAN, WHEAT, ZNFU
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Egg and poultry cartels in the wings
LLOYD GEDYE - Nov 05 2010 12:13
Never mind the bread cartel, wheat cartel and flour cartel, while we're at it let's throw in an egg cartel and a poultry cartel for good measure.
Pioneer Foods's whopping R1-billion fine for anti-competitive practices may have grabbed the headlines, but the real story was hidden in the detail -- Pioneer Foods has not only been involved in bread, flour and wheat cartels, but also in poultry and egg cartels.
The Competition Commission's statement on the settlement reached between it and Pioneer, detailed for the first time investigations into the poultry and egg markets.
The statement made it clear that the fine imposed on Pioneer was also aimed at settling these matters, which are under investigation, and that Pioneer would rat on alleged colluders in the egg and poultry cartels.
The commission's investigation into the poultry market was initiated in April last year and its statement claims that Rainbow Chickens, Astral Foods, Country Birds Holdings, Afgri, the South African Poultry Association and the Animal Feed Manufacturers' Association played a part in the cartel.
Paying too much
They are alleged to have divided up markets and shared information and the statement suggests that South Africans could be paying 25% too much for chicken as a result.
The egg cartel investigation was launched in May this year and 20 egg producers are being investigated -- Nulaid, Hy-line South Africa, Avichick, Eggbert, Top Lay, Fair Acres, Heidel Eggs, Lund Eggs, Waterglen Pluimvee, Paardeberg Flinkwink, Golden Yolk ND Lay Well, Rodendal, Nantes Eggs, Eikenhof, Elkana, Windmeul Eggs, Morningside, Sunrise Eggs, Eden Rock and Cocorico.
Pioneer has applied for corporate leniency for the involvement of its subsidiary, Nulaid, in collusion in the egg market and so it will help the commission prosecute the other members of the cartel.
Pioneer's involvement in these alleged cartels has highlighted the fact that, while the agreed settlement of more than R1-billion is the largest settlement in South African history, Pioneer still got off fairly lightly.
According to current legislation, the commission could ask for a maximum fine of 10% of the Pioneer Foods Group's annual turnover for each individual case it chose to prosecute involving Pioneer Foods.
'Pioneer could have faced a maximum fine'
So, with a turnover for the 2009 financial year of R16,3-billion and anti-competitive practices flagged in the bread, wheat milling, flour milling, egg and poultry markets, Pioneer could have faced a maximum fine in the region of R8-billion, which is 80% of the company's market capitalisation.
The Black Sash took umbrage over the fine this week, arguing that it was not high enough.
"Not only did Pioneer Foods fix the price of bread, a staple food, but it inflated and profited illegally from the sale of other basic goods, including wheat, maize, poultry and eggs," said the Black Sash in a statement.
Pioneer Foods have been locked in negotiations with the commission for months, trying to bring to an end its reputation-damaging involvement in the bread and milling cartels.
In May 2008 the commission referred its case against bakers Sasko and Duens (Pioneer Foods), Albany (Tiger Brands), Blue Ribbon (Premier Foods) and Sunbake Bakeries (Foodcorp) to the Competition Tribunal, alleging that they had colluded in a bread cartel.
Later three of them admitted guilt and settled with the commission, but Pioneer decided to take the commission on, claiming it was not part of a bread cartel.
Determined to clear their name
If Pioneer had agreed to settle with the commission its fines would probably have been calculated on the R3,4-billion turnover of its baking and milling division from the 2007 financial year -- an effective fine of R340-million if the full 10% had been sought, which would have been unlikely. But the company's managing director, André Hanekom, was adamant that it had a strong case and that it was determined to clear its name.
In the end Pioneer's defence came unstuck, with Sasko general manager Andries Goosen admitting to perjuring himself before the tribunal.
The commission was looking into laying perjury charges against Goosen, which could result in jail time, but it is unclear how the current settlement will affect those charges.
KK Combi, the Premier chairperson, refused to comment on Goosen, saying Goosen was facing action from the National Prosecuting Authority.
In February this year the tribunal announced its ruling, fining Pioneer R195-million. But the commission was not impressed with the fine and took the matter on appeal to the Competition Appeal Court to get it increased, which sparked the round of negotiations that resulted in the settlement.
Tribunal hearing
Pioneer also had a tribunal hearing into its milling business hanging over its head after the commission referred charges against it to the tribunal in March this year.
As agreed in the settlement, which has to be approved by the tribunal, Pioneer will pay a R250-million fine to the National Revenue Fund and R250-million to a new agro-processing competitiveness fund, which will be administered by the Industrial Development Corporation to promote competitiveness, employment and growth in food value chains.
Pioneer has also agreed to adjust its flour and bread prices over a defined period, which will cost it about R160-million.
Ebrahim Patel, the minister of economic development, told Parliament this week that it was anticipated that this would "stimulate price competition in the bread and wheat market".
"I take this opportunity, subject to confirmation by the Competition Tribunal of the settlement, to call on bakeries, supermarkets and the retail trade to pass the price reduction on to consumers," said Patel.
Capital expenditure to be increased
Pioneer has also agreed to increase its capital expenditure by R150-million over a two-year period, to R1,35-billion.
Patel said this commitment was intended to support efforts to improve the company's competitiveness through innovation and the upgrading of equipment and expansion of operations, instead of relying on price-fixing and collusion with competitors.
This was on top of the R195-million fine that was handed down by the tribunal in February, taking the total to just over R1-billion.
Commissioner Shan Ramburuth said the settlement with Pioneer went beyond just a penalty and included price adjustment for the benefit of consumers and a fund to promote competition in the agro-processing industry.
"The commission welcomes Pioneer's approach, as evidenced in this agreement, to resolving the matters and agreeing to undertakings aimed at a more competitive and dynamic economy in these crucial sectors," said Ramburuth. Labels: DAIRY, KARTELS
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