Shares in SAB Zenzele Kabili lifted 11% in intraday trade after it indicating yesterday that it would be paying a cash dividend of 45 cents per share to all shareholders by June 26.
The share rose 11.11% to R40 yesterday. However, in general the counter has not seen a strong performance with the share price having fallen 31.97% in a year.
SAB Zenzele Kabili being a shareholder of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), received a total amount of R77 million, based on the 5 105 685 shares it holds in AB InBev.
“Taking into account the applicable debt repayments and with tight operating cost management, SAB Zenzele Kabili was able to declare a dividend of R0.45 per share from the dividend income it received from AB InBev,” the company in a statement.
SAB Zenzele Kabili is a public company listed on the Black Economic Empowerment segment of the JSE. It was established in 2021 to facilitate broad-based black ownership in SAB through the scheme’s shareholding. It is the successor to SAB’s BEE scheme called SAB Zenzele.
More than 50 000 black shareholders including retail partners and employees who participate in SAB Zenzele Kabili, share in the performance of the world’s largest brewer AB InBev.
Yesterday’s market cheer may be short lived though as SAB Zenzele Kabili is a subsidiary of the AB InBev, which has seen a massive sell off in its shares.
AB InBev’s shares have been tumbling since Bud Light’s now-infamous promo with Dylan Mulvaney was posted on April 1, when the trans social media star shared a photo of a personalized beer can the brand sent her to celebrate her “365 Days of Girlhood.”
The post sparked a nationwide boycott of Bud Light and other beers in Anheuser-Busch’s portfolio resulting in plunging sales since that time with nearly $27 billion (R519bn) of dollars wiped off its portfolio at the end of March.
An online analysis by Simply Wall Street in March had this to say about SAB Zenzele Kabili, “It's easy to match the overall market return by buying an index fund. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns.
“That downside risk was realized by SAB Zenzele Kabili Holdings (RF) Limited (JSE:SZK) shareholders over the last year, as the share price declined 23%. That's disappointing when you consider the market declined 5.5%. SAB Zenzele Kabili Holdings (RF) hasn't been listed for long, so although we're wary of recent listings that perform poorly, it may still prove itself with time.”
Meanwhile, according to a series of Sunday World articles, some shareholders are allegedly "gatvol“ with the scheme.
BUSINESS REPORT