Starafricacorporation granted one month reprieve by ZSE

SUGAR producer, Starafricacorporation Limited (SACL) said yesterday it had been granted a one month reprieve by the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to publish its annual financial results after failing to meet the June 30 deadline.

Depending on their financial year end, all listed firms have to publish their half or full-year results three months after the close of the reporting period.

But SACL said the outbreak of the coronavirus inspired national lockdown had impacted on the production of its financials and applied for an extension.

“The audit was delayed by the Covid-19 related national locked down.

Consequent thereof, we have not been able to meet the 30 June deadline for publication of the abridged financial statements in the press,” the listed sugar producer said.

“However we applied for, and were granted, one month’s extension by the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) which extension requires us to publish the company’s abridged audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2020 no later than 31 July 2020.”

Zimbabwe has been under a national Covid-19 lockdown since the end of March as government sought to contain the spread of the pandemic, which has to date killed seven people and infected over 500 others in the country.

The lockdown has, however, been gradually eased to allow industry to return to life.

Starafricacorporation said it would be able to meet the new deadline, with results expected to be finalised by mid-July.

For the period ending March 2019, the firm posted a net profit of $8.8 million, its first profit since 2009, and having recovered from a loss of $3.8 million in the prior comparable period. - New Ziana