Coca-Cola HBC, Canal+ on track for secondary JSE listing in 2026, JSE CEO says
06/03/2026 09:29
By Karin Strohecker LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Johannesburg Stock Exchange expects to see a couple of listings this year and is consulting with clients on expanding trading hours, the bourse's CEO Leila Fourie told Reuters. Secondary listings for both London-listed Swiss-based bottler Coca-Cola HBC and French broadcasting group Canal+ CAN.L are on track to launch on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2026, Fourie said. Liquidity and the integrity of price formation are key considerations before moving towards extending trading hours or implementing 24/7 trading, Fourie said, adding that the JSE is also watching how the U.S. pilot scheme is panning out. "South Africa is assessing the pros and cons of 24-hour trading and we are engaging our market participants, and we will only move if our market participants are comfortable with the move," Fourie said, without giving further details. "The duration and severity of the geopolitical crisis in Iran will determine how long the rotation out of emerging markets is likely to be," Fourie said. "We've seen a decisive shift into emerging markets in the past year, and it's expected that that would have continued. But it all depends on where the Iran crisis lands." Fourie said the share of foreign investors holding South African listed stocks rose from 28% at the start of 2025 to 34% this month. JSE will focus on collaboration with other bourses rather than M&A. "Rather than consider any firm corporate actions, we've taken an approach to rather engage with deep centers of liquidity to identify reciprocal service opportunities that we can share," she said, adding particular focus was fast track listing arrangements to enable cross listings. JSE has signed a number of agreements in recent years, including with the Singapore Stock Exchange, Saudi Arabia's Tadawul and the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Karin Strohecker, editing by Anousha Sakoui) ((karin.strohecker@thomsonreuters.com))