Trustco's shares fall to all-time low

The share price of diversified Namibian company Trustco has fallen to an all-time low, with its stock now trading for less than when it listed on the JSE over a decade ago.
On Monday morning, Trustco stock was trading at 51 cents a share, some 20 cents lower than when it made its JSE debut in 2009. The group's shares have been falling steadily since early 2019 when they reached a high of R16 a share.
Trustco - which has interests in financial services, property and mining - has been in dispute with the JSE for the past two years.
Its latest share price decline follows a decision by the Financial Services Tribunal (FST), which dismissed Trustco's latest application to stop the JSE from suspending its shares.
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The JSE wants to suspend the company's shares for not following its directive to restate its 2019 financials. It has accused Trustco of flouting global accounting standards by incorrectly booking profits from two loans and a reclassification of land it owns.
But Trustco has refused to restate its financials, saying the transactions were "correctly accounted for, reported and disclosed". It has also challenged the JSE's right to direct companies to alter their financial statements, saying only boards have this power.
Following the FST's decision last week, Trustco said it would re-enrol the urgent application. It has also launched a separate application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to overturn the tribunal's earlier ruling finding the JSE was justified in directing it to restate its financials.
Its shares now stand to be suspended on July 29 unless it succeeds in launching an urgent application to stay or overturn the ruling. -Fin24