Conglomerate Press Corporation (PCL) plc says the 1:35 share split has boosted the tradability of its shares on the 17‑counter Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE) and enhanced price discovery.
PCL plc chief executive officer Ronald Mangani said in an interview on Thursday, four days after the subdivided shares listed on the MSE on September 7, that the market is responding to the split.
PCL’s stock, which was previously trading at K9 520 per share, was reset to K272 after the split and climbed to K312.80 at the close of business on Friday.
already happening. | Nation
“The price discovery is already happening. We expect the increase in tradability to discover the real value,” said Mangani.
With completion of the share split, it means every existing ordinary share was subdivided into 35 units in a move aimed at making PCL shares more affordable and accessible while supporting participation in the county’s capital market.
The share split follows shareholder approvals and regulatory processes in early August this year during an annual general meeting.
The decision to undertake the share split, according to Mangani, followed a review of PCL’s capital market profile, trading activity, shareholder participation and prevailing market conditions.
He said: “PCL’s share price increased from approximately K4 000 per share in May 2025 to K8 700 per share by May 2026, representing growth of approximately 118 percent.
“While this reflected positive investor confidence in the company, the high nominal share price was also identified as a potential barrier to participation by some investors and a factor contributing to limited liquidity.”
Mangani said the share split was intended to make individual PCL shares more affordable and potentially encourage broader participation and trading activity on the shares market.
He said what is key is that the share split did not dilute existing shareholders or change their percentage ownership in PCL.
For example, a shareholder who held 1 000 PCL shares before the split, will now own 35 000 shares and the percentage ownership of PCL remains exactly the same, with Press Trust holding majority stake at 42.48 percent while Old Mutual Life Assurance Company continues to hold 21.39 percent stake with 36.12 percent owned by the public.
Prior to the share split, PCL had 120.2 million issued ordinary shares, but following the share split, the number of issued ordinary shares increased to 4.2 billion.
In an earlier interview, Stockbrokers Malawi Limited equity investment analyst Kondwani Makwakwa said the milestone means investors will have a larger number of shares available to buy and sell.
“It will also increase retail investor participation as the increased number of shares and lower price per share make PCL shares more accessible to small investors,” he said.
Financial market analyst Brian Kampanje, in a separate interview, said the increase in PCL shares will result in the counter’s share price discovering its true market value and increase shareholders’ dividends.
PCL share price split comes a year after Standard Bank plc successfully subdivided its shares into the multiple of five, reducing its share value.—The Nation
