Shacolas to exit out of Christis

NK Shacolas and Cyprus Trading Corp. Pcl announced that they are at advanced stage of negotiations to sell their stake in Christis Dairies Pcl to a company based in the EU for cash, at a price significantly higher than its current price traded on the CSE.

Christis Dairies (CDL), listed in the Parallel Market of the CSE has a market capitalisation of CYP 6 mln according to Financial Mirror data and was last trading at 11 cent per share.

“The sale of the stake, after the final negotiations are hammered out, will be through a public tender offer for the whole capital of Christis, provided that the relevant authorities of the Republic of Cyprus approve the deal,” an official announcement by NK Shacolas filed with the CSE said.

Shareholders of Christis are urged to have patience until the whole deal is wrapped up in the next few weeks, which may not be concluded, the NK Shacolas announcement cautioned.

Christis has a total issued share capital of 54.7 mln shares of 25 cent each with a book value estimated at around 28 cent per share according to its most recent accounts.

The Shacolas Group of Companies and the CTC Group hold a 45.81% controlling stake in Christis, or 25.092.159 shares.

Christis has had a mediocre performance. After reporting net profit of CYP 432.000 in 2003, the company reported CYP 761.000 net loss for 2004, while in 2005 it reported CYP 106.000 in net profit. Based on its 11 cent price on the CSE, Christis is trading at a whopping 57 times price to earnings ratio on 2005 profit, while its price to book value is estimated at 0.39x according to Financial Mirror estimates.