It’s been almost three years since the FM’s cover story on controversial Namibian investment company Trustco, and a lot of water — quite murky in parts — has flowed under the bridge.
The share has been suspended on the JSE since early this year when Trustco was considering delisting, but had failed to submit its financial statements to end-August 2024.
Those important financials are now nearly a year out of date — an almost incomprehensible situation. Initially Trustco indicated it would publish the financials by the end of June. That deadline whizzed past.
The latest communication to shareholders last month did not pencil in a new publication deadline, but indicated further details about publication of the figures would be provided later.
Things, it seems, hinge on the JSE agreeing to a request for Trustco to waive aspects of its listings requirements that are apparently affecting the audit process.
Punters might be a tad fretful at this juncture. How much store can be put in Trustco’s interim (end-February 2024) figures of a NAV of R1.26bn or 128c a share, in light of the pre-suspension market value of R358m, or 30c a share?
The Namibian economy — buoyed by promising oil and gas discoveries as well as lithium, rare earths and green hydrogen projects — could be compelling in the years ahead. Just how Trustco is shaping up for this is unclear. But an update on the group’s sizeable exposure to diamond mining — a sector sans an ounce of hype these days — would be morbidly fascinating.
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