CFI Holdings fight is about potential

It has three divisions namely in poultry, retail and light manufacturing and property, all potential gold mines once the economy is on the recovery path.

Under the poultry division it runs Agrifoods, Crest Breeders, Suncrest and Glenara Estates, while under the retail division it operates its flagship Farm and City.

The group also operates Victoria Foods, a light manufacturing group and holds a 45 percent stake in Maitlands property group among other properties under its specialised division.

“CFI is a massive company with a lot of assets and has the potential to do extremely well, with viable agro business and best brands in the market,” an analyst said.

“If CFI was not run down, at one point you could easily list four or five businesses out of it, that are listable and scalable, which could be by now, generating almost $80-$100million dollars annually on their own.”

Its financials tell the story of a company in need of a reboot.

In 2016 the company reported a turnover of $29 million from a $96.4 million asset base.

Some analysts contend that this would be the best time to buy into CFI given its immense size.

“Investors are still interested in its assets because they know that, in future, they can easily turnaround CFI and make it a very big company,” an analyst said.

Earlier in May this year, Zimre Holdings chief executive Stanley Kudenga told analysts that Zimre wanted to increase its stake in CFI for diversification purposes and was confident that the company will improve its financial performance in the future.

This explains why there is an intensifying battle over control of the agro-industrial business, which has seen the company’s share price rallying on the market to reach its highest point since dollarisation.

In the year-to-date the share price is up an unbelievable 526.28 percent.

Analysts, however, raise concern about Messina Investments’ ability to turnover CFI.

van Hoogstraten, through Messina holds interests in hotel group RTG and Hwange Colliery Company Limited, companies which are going through their fair share of trouble.

“There are question marks around Nick the companies in which he holds a significant shareholding have a lot of problems, like what’s happening to Hwange and RTG. History has shown that he is not the best investor to turnaround a company, but that could just be a coincidence,” said an analyst.- The Source

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