Potato group HZPC has seen the price on the half-yearly trading day today (Friday, May 8, 2020) drop by a maximum of 10% to €131,25 (done/let). The supply of the number of depositary receipts for shares has increased. HZPC declares to be pleased with the sharp fall in the price.
Up to and including the broken financial year 2017/2018, the price of the depositary receipts for shares has risen sharply to around €200 each, only to fall again in the last 2 years. Today's price fall probably has everything to do with the uncertainty surrounding the effects of the current corona crisis, but HZPC is not allowed to comment substantively on stock market developments.
Positive signal
The potato group says in a statement that it regards the price decline as a 'positive signal to active growers'. With a larger supply, these growers can more easily purchase certificates. Some of the certificates are now in the hands of growers who no longer actively cultivate seed potatoes, HZPC reports in a statement.
Gerard Backx, CEO of HZPC, says: “A strong HZPC benefits from the ownership of HZPC being held by active growers. We therefore see the increase in the range of certificates as a positive signal to this group. It seems that growers who are no longer actively growing want to sell their certificates and make them available to active growers.”
Buy your own shares
In March, HZPC created the so-called Connecting Growers program to promote the transfer of certificates from inactive growers to active growers. This program means that HZPC annually purchases shares worth €1,5 million to distribute them among its active seed potato growers in the European Union. In this way, any grower who wishes to become a co-owner of HZPC.