Slip-up knocks Clientele stock

Insurance holding company Clientele plunged to record lows on Wednesday after someone entered an order to sell the stock at any price.

Johannesburg - Local insurance holding company Clientele plunged to record lows after someone entered an order to sell the stock at any price.

The shares, which have averaged R14.98 this year, slumped 99 percent to 21c yesterday, with 488 securities changing hands at that price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The insurer was down 2.44 percent to R14 at close. More than 59 000 shares had traded, about 86 percent of the three-month daily average.

“It was the result of a client entering a market order to sell, that is an order which has no price limit attached and will match with whatever bids there are in the order book,” said Peter Redman, part of the surveillance team at the JSE.

The 488 shares that matched at 21c were part of a final tranche of the market order and “the trade will stand,” Redman said, without identifying the trader.

Clientele, based in Johannesburg, offers life, funeral, legal and health-insurance products. It has a market value of R4.38 billion. Barclays Group Africa analyst Larissa van Deventer rates the stock equal weight.

BLOOMBERG