PPC sells Zimbabwe property for $27m

PPC has been disposing of noncore assets as part of its turnaround strategy. Picture: Supplied

JSE-listed PPC, through its 88%-held subsidiary PPC Zimbabwe, has sold the Arlington Estate, a 418ha vacant property in Harare, for $27m.

The disposal is in the best interest of the group, it said. PPC has been disposing of noncore assets as part of its turnaround strategy.

The property was sold for a gross cash consideration of $27m, generating net proceeds of $21.4m after transaction-related costs and taxes.

After the disposal, PPC Zimbabwe declared and paid a dividend of $21.4m, with PPC’s 88% share amounting to $17.9m, or about R296.4m at the prevailing exchange rate.

The purchaser of the Arlington Property is a privately held Zimbabwean company associated with property holdings in that country.

An earlier attempt to sell the property fell through when the buyer, Transvaal Africa, failed to pay the $30m price tag by the agreed deadline of the end of June.

Business Day reported previously that the deal had already shown signs of strain in February, when PPC told shareholders it had agreed with the buyer to push back the deadline to the end of June because “various administrative matters had delayed the meeting of certain milestones, giving the parties more time to complete the transaction”.

PPC has been reshaping its portfolio and focus capital on its core cement business.

PPC Zimbabwe bought the property in 1990 but regained ownership only in December 2024 after it was seized by the Zimbabwean government in 2010.

PPC is due to release its first-half results on November 16. It said in a recent update earnings rose 40% for the first five months, boosted by a strong operational performance from its Zimbabwean cement business.

The group said that for the five months to end-August, group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) increased by 40%, and the ebitda margin strengthened by 6.2 percentage points to 22.1% from a year ago.

Group revenue increased by 1%, with positive revenue growth in Zimbabwe of 4% offsetting a 2% decline in South Africa and Botswana cement revenue, which reflects lower sales volumes partly recovered through improved price and product mix.