Delta Corporation, the Zimbabwean unit of South African brewing giant SABMiller, plans to distribute its financial reports to shareholders via email, a move that may harm newspapers.
Zimbabwean listed companies are required by the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to publish
audited interim and final reports three months after the end of each period in newspapers.
Company financial statements, in turn, are major revenue contributors for newspapers.
Meanwhile, Delta Corporation – which has a market capitalisation of over $1 billion – has said that it is amending its Articles of Association to allow for the electronic distribution of reports.
The amendments are expected to be passed at the company’s annual general meeting in Harare on July 24.
“It is proposed to amend the Articles of Association by inserting two clauses that allow the electronic mailing of reports to shareholders and the distribution of dividends through approved national payment systems,” said Delta Corporation’s company secretary, Alex Makamure.
If adopted by other companies, the switch to electronic mailing of financial reports could dent advertising income for newspapers in Zimbabwe, says Susan Makoni who is a marketing executive at a local company.
“Newspapers survive largely on advertising revenue and if listed companies are to shift from distributing their results through the newspapers it will have big implications in terms of advertising revenue for the newspapers,” she told ITWeb Africa.
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