PBC Threatened With Expulsion

The Ghana Stock Exchange has threatened to delist the Produce Buying Company (PBC) if it does not convene an Annual General Meeting as soon as practicable. PBC’s management has been preparing feverishly to fix a date for the company’s AGM following GSE’s threat of expulsion. A senior PBC official told the Business and Financial Times newspapaer in an interview that they had received letters, faxes and telephone calls from a number of people including officials of the GSE, to urgently convene the company’s AGM.

Management was expected to convene an emergency meeting on April 5, 2002 to consider the company’s accounts with auditors and possibly fix a date for the AGM, which was last held in February 2000. By law, PBC as a company listed on the stock exchange, is supposed to hold an AGM every year to disuss among other things, appointments to directors and fixing of fees for Auditors, but the company has not been able to live up to its statutory obligations.

Some shareholders have expressed concern about the new PBC Board which was put in place by government as well as the termination of appointment of the Managing Director and General Manager of the company. They are therefore calling for an extra-ordinary meeting to be held within the shortest possible time to discuss changes in the board of the PBC.

Government is the largest shareholder of PBC with 69.84 per cent shares. Others are the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) – 20 per cent, PBC Staff – 5 per cent; General Public – 4.66 per cent and 5 per cent shares for farmers.