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BUSINESS REVIEW - KCM leads way to stock markets
By Shamaoma Musonda
WHEN Vedanta Resources announced last week that it will list the Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the mining giant scored a first as it became the only Zambian company to float its shares on the world’s biggest stock exchange.
In announcing the decision, Vedanta Resources said the listing of the company on the LSE would unlock the true wealth of the firm.
And to add another first in stock market field, KCM would also become the first Zambian mining firm to be listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE).
KCM would have more shares floated on the LuSE for Zambian companies and individuals including its members of staff.
KCM, which is Africa’s second largest copper producer, also boasts of copper reserves exceeding seven million tonnes with grade as high as 3.59 per cent, which is one of the highest in the world.
With the rich reserves giving the mine a minimum 25 more mining years, the firm plans to become Africa’s largest copper producer by 2014.
With the world demand for copper, the pressure on KCM to produce has never been this high and the firm believes it can achieve even better by reducing the cost of production by 45 per cent- presently mining one pound (about 500 grammes) of copper costs US$ 1.80 and hopes to bring it down to less than a dollar per pound.
In 2008, KCM commissioned a smelter at its Chingola plant which is now the largest single-site copper smelter in Africa in capacity terms and has the ability to churn out 311,000 tonnes of copper per year with a highly efficient way of recovering cobalt as a by-product.
The London Stock Exchange or FTSE is the world’s largest Stock Exchange market and has strict admittance procedure and firms that get listed have to prove among other things excellent company governance and liquidity.
Stockbrokers Zambia Limited Managing Director Charles Mate reckons KCM is too sweet a company to be blocked from the LSE especially because of its size, production levels, amounts of profits it posts and the attractive copper prices obtaining on the world market.
KCM has assets totaling a minimum $2.288.6billion. Copper is selling at $ 8,500 per tonne and prices are expected to go even higher for a long time.
With an overwhelming target of at least $ 1.1 billion, KCM shares should fetch highly.
To facilitate the listing, Vedanta Resources Plc, itself a London listed FTSE 100 Metals Company, created Konkola Resources, which would be the KCM holding company with a rich group of board members coming from the two main Shareholders in Vedanta and the Government through Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holding (ZCCM-IH).
Konkola Resources will float the KCM premier shares to only institutions on the main board of the London Stock exchange next month and subsequently on LuSE next year for the Zambian market including the staff at KCM.
As per rule of the London Stock exchange, a company should have at least stake not less than 25 per cent itself and KCM is expected to list not more than that in the primary listing and may offer more in the secondary offer.
Depending of the breakup of the offered stake of the companies (number of shares and cost per share) prospecting institutions would buy those shares (as many as possible).
That process would then be replicated at the LuSE in December where Zambians, including individuals would have a chance to own shares in one of Zambia’s biggest companies. Later big dividend cheques would be paid to all the players.
But why London ahead of Lusaka?
“KCM has picked London first because it offers a lot more money. The domestic savings on LuSE are simply not adequate to meet this target. London is purely a hub of institutional investors and the benefits are quite rewarding,” Mr Mate said.
Apart from Zambians getting a chance to own Zambia’s leading company, the Zambian stock market is set to get a real boost as the monies that Konkola Resources shares will bring onto the LuSE would greatly boost the local savings and increase trade.
In further leading the way, KCM will be opening the doors for more mining companies to get onto the stock exchange and where they could not meet the standards of LSE, would meet the LuSE criterion and bring more money onto the Zambian stock exchanges.
Why not a loan then?
Chibamba Kanyama, a financial expert says the Stock Exchange is better because the money acquired from there has no interest bearings on it and it also offers people to have a claim in the company.
The repayment is manageable and through only dividends. He said the stock exchange offers a chance to get a lot of money even when a company like KCM has debts with banks and allows for the growth of business by investing in capital infrastructure.
It also allows the expansion of market-share through purchasing and selling of more shares and leads to proficiency and thereby increases profits.
He said by putting a value of the company, it gives the shareholders a real sense of ownership of the company by getting money out of it through dividends as the Government would now get as much as $130 million from the floating of KCM on the stock market for its 20 per cent share ownership.
Vedanta Resources plc holds the 80 per cent stake in KCM.
In further justifying the benefits of going onto the stock exchange, KCM Chief Executive Officer Kishore Kumar said the proceeds from the Global Offer (in London) will mainly service the debts of up to $500 million (more than two-thirds of the current debt levels).
The other half from the initial global offer would see the Government pocket part of its 20 per cent share of about $130 million and the remaining going towards the funding of its capital expenditure programmes including the second phase of the Konkola Deep Mining Project.
The remaining amount would be used to fund the unlocking process of the value that is hidden underneath the surface of the earth estimated to be worth between $6 billion to $7 billion.
With KCM expected to more than double output to 400,000 tonnes a year by 2014, from 173,000 tonnes in the financial year ending March 2010, and to cut integrated cash costs to below $1 per pound from $1.80, KCM has so much intrinsic value.
As a result of the intrinsic value its share price in London could significantly be higher, especially that it is going to offer investors a chance to break in the copper business having traded more with gold on the same exchange.