ZSE financials grace period for companies

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has given listed companies a 30-day grace period to publish their financial results due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.

The country has registered three confirmed Covid-19 cases, prompting the Government to order curtailed movements of people, including workers, as a precautionary measure.

As a result, most companies have scaled down operations, and staff put in self-isolation at home. Others have ordered workers to work from homes.

The ZSE move follows a flurry of cautionary warnings in recent days by listed companies that they may not be able to meet financial reporting deadlines due to disruptions caused by Covid-19.

As a result, the ZSE gave the companies an additional 30 days to finalise their accounts and publish the financial results.

“Issuers whose half year or full year financial period ended on 31 December 2019 and are due for publication by 31 March 2020 are hereby granted a 30-day compliance grace period to 30 April 2020,” the stock market regulator said.

It also advised its members to comply with the Government proclamation limiting attendee numbers for functions such as meetings, in cases where the companies wanted to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs). The Government has limited numbers for any gathering to 50.

“The country is, therefore, in an emergency mode and our interpretation is that AGMs, which are likely to be attended by 50 or more people are accordingly banned.

“If you are not sure, you may proceed to make an application to delay the holding of your AGM through the Registrar of companies citing the foregoing reasons or any other reasons you might have in support of your application,” the ZSE said.- New Ziana