Telkom's outgoing CFO, Peter Nelson, has sold shares worth almost R2 million on the open market.
Nelson's resignation two weeks ago came just five days after Telkom announced that Reuben September had resigned with immediate effect as group CEO, and that Jeffery Hedberg had been appointed in an acting capacity. September appointed Nelson as CFO in October 2008.
Yesterday, the fixed-line operator told the market that Neslon had sold 53 421 shares at R33.16 each on the open market. He sold the shares for a total of R1.8 million.
The announcement did not indicate whether Nelson had any other shares in Telkom. However, according to Telkom's 2009 annual report - the latest one published - Nelson owned 19 182 shares at the end of the 2009 financial year.
However, subsequent to Telkom's March 2009 year-end, Nelson acquired 77 836 shares.
Nelson's trade would not have affected Telkom's share price much, as the market did not open for trade until 3pm due to a technical hitch. The company's shares closed at R33.49 yesterday, slightly down by 0.03%.
Denis Smit, MD of BMI-TechKnowledge, says if Nelson's share sale is not due to contractual reasons, the sale could be the result of Nelson's view that the share price is under pressure, and now is the best time to sell.
Smit speculates that Nelson could also be selling to cut ties with the company. He does not expect the sale to make an impact on the share price, as the market will have already discounted Telkom's shares to take into account the bigger issues it is facing, such as the lack of a permanent CEO.
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