The Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) has raised R85m to fund ongoing growth and expansion, forecasting growth to quadruple by February as it anticipates R20bn in equity listings before the end of the financial year.
Speaking to Business Day, the CEO of the CTSE, Eugene Booysen, said that after a successful and oversubscribed capital raise, the exchange’s outlook was positive anticipating growth and investment of a combined R40bn to come into the bourse by year-end.
“We are forecasting another R20bn in equity listings before the end of our financial year, that’s February next year,” Booysen told Business Day, pointing out that the bourse was riding on the upward growth trajectory that it has been on for the last two years.
“We have a pipeline we are working on and we expect to hit that milestone over the balance of the year,” he said without wishing to give away the names of involved entities. “Our pipeline of listings is exponential and we are seeing significant growth going forward.”
Home to 13 small and medium-sized businesses listed on its equities platform, the CTSE’s equity market carries a combined market capitalisation of about R8.3bn, while the debt market is at R2.6bn.
“We expect to add another R20bn before the financial year is out,” the CEO added about the CTSE’s debt listings, which it launched in October.
About 14 issuers are listed on the debt platform. He said the recent success in debt listings had laid the foundation for the upcoming pipeline, while the global rise in interest rates was making public markets more competitive again.
Either way, the odds favour the CTSE, as Booysen pointed out: “Even if we miss the milestone we will hit the horizon.” He emphasised that the board saw the bourse as an R2-trillion “blue sky opportunity just in SA”.
“We will be significantly bigger come year-end,” Booysen said.
The exchange said the recent oversubscribed funding round was led by Imvelo Ventures, a new investor in the group that was founded by Capitec Bank and Empowerment Capital Investment Partners. Lebashe Investment Group, Pallidus Alternative Investments, Shaolin Investments and Gary Stroebel including all existing investors in the CTSE, also participated.
The fast-growing fintech stock exchange announced Mark Fitzjohn, Bruce Ndidi and Stephan Van Der Walt will join the 8-person board now chaired by Johnson Njeke.
gumedemi@businesslive.co.za
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