[2008-01-24]  Ellerines to delist from BSE
FURNITURE group Ellerines Holdings is set to delist from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) following its acquisition by African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL).



Ellerines, founded in 1950 by South African Ellerine brothers Sidney and Eric, was bought by ABIL for P8. 57 billion and from yesterday it ceased to be listed as a separate entity on the JSE, where it was primarily listed.

BSE Listings and Trading Manager Bopelokgale Soko has confirmed the pending delisting of the furniture company, although she was not certain of the exact date the counter would do so. "Ellerines has its primary listing on the JSE," Soko said. "That is where they are supposed to delist first and then move to their dual listing bourses such as ourselves and the Namibian Stock Exchange where they are also listed.

"We are expecting to communicate with the shareholders by the end of the week, and then we will have a clearer picture on the actual dates." Soko went on to say there was also just a little chance of a change of trading name to ABIL.

"Before a company decides to have a dual listing, it has to scrutinise the benefits of that move," he said. "So far the only indication that we have received from the company is that of a delisting, which has been communicated to local shareholders."Ellerines is in retail furniture and appliances sector. It trades out of 1 156 outlets covering both rural and urban areas across six countries in southern Africa, namely, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.According to a report in Business Day newspaper, David Woollam, the Executive Director of African Bank, said the lender would spend the next three to six months analysing Ellerines in detail before making any changes.

"However, changes on the drawing board include moving the company back to basics, with a focus on selling furniture, not credit," said Woollam.

He said this would involve streamlining brands down from thirteen. Ellerines has more than 1 000 outlets with brand names including Town Talk, FurnCity, Bears, Geen & Richards, Lubners, Dial-a-Bed, and Mattress Factory.It also owns Wetherlys and Osiers. Woollam said these multiple brands were often serving the same market.

Ellerines' delisting will bring down the number of listed companies on the bourse to 29. The delisting comes at a time when the BSE is in the process of introducing three new indices which will reflect on the total returns of the constituent securities more effectively.

The indices, which will come into play at the beginning of next month, are the Local Asset Status Index (LASI), the Foreign Resources Sector (FRSI) and Domestic Financial Sector Index (DFSI). They will replace the Domestic Companies Index (DCI) and Foreign Companies Index (FCI). A recent statement from the BSE said the existing indices are computer-based on capital gains only and do not factor in total returns on securities. Hence, they will cease to exist on January 31.

"The new indices will therefore reflect the total returns of the constituent securities on both price movements as well as on dividend receipts," the statement said.LAS will consist of all domestic companies and all foreign companies awarded local asset status by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The FRSI will be composed of all foreign resource sector companies listed on the bourse while the DFSI will consist of all domestic financial services companies listed.


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