Sygnus Credit Investments public share offer that opened on December 18 is scheduled to close on Wednesday, December 23; the shares are attractively priced and should be eagerly taken up as investors traded the shares at $28 and 21 US cents in the last twelve months.
Sygnus is an international business company incorporated under the International Business Companies Act of Saint Lucia. It provides non-traditional financing to middle market businesses. The objective of SCI is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns with downside protection. SCI’s dividend policy is to pay out up to 85 percent of net income.
The company started operating successfully in 2017 in Jamaica, with its shares listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2018, after offering 90.9 million shares to the public that were fully taken up by investors.
Jamaican denominated shares were then priced at J$13.72 for each and 11 US cents for each US dollar denominated share to raise US$10 million. Investors put down more than $3.8 billion to purchase the shares and the issue was up-sized to US$20.3 million. The FSC has now placed an upward limit on the upsizing of IPOs to no more than 50 percent of the initial amount offered.
The company is now offering 196.4 million shares to the public to raise US$22 million or J$3.3 billion equivalent in an additional public offering. The offer may be upsized to US$32 million or J$4.8 billion. The issue is priced at $14.70 and 13 US cents per share for existing shareholders and team members. The shares are available to other investors at $16.30 and 14 US cents each. The stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $16 and 15.7 US cents. The Minimum Subscription is 1,000 Shares.
Sygnus provides funding to mid-market businesses across a wide cross section of industries including, Manufacturing, Distribution, Energy, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure by way of Notes or bonds, asset-backed debt, preference shares, leveraged debt, bridge financing, mezzanine debt, subordinated debt and other structured private credit instruments.
Mezzanine financing is a hybrid of debt and equity financing that gives the lender the right to convert to an equity interest in the company in case of default, generally, after venture capital companies and other senior lenders are paid.
Sygnus states that its industry exposure is limited to a maximum of 35 percent with no more than 25 percent in any single company or group of companies. The typical tenor is up to 5 years, with a maximum of 7 years in exceptional cases.
All investments they are involved in must have a clear exit strategy, which must be covered by, at a minimum, repayment of debt, sale of position, or Initial Public Offering.
The funds raised are to take advantage of pipeline opportunities in high quality middle-market firms, the company states. Increase flexibility to expand origination in trade, acquisition and asset-backed finance and play a leading role in financing the recovery and growth of middle-market firms. Pay down US$10M bridge notes and allow for more efficient utilization of debt markets in the future that will lower cost and improve the company’s flexibility in funding clients’ demands. Optimize the use of leverage to drive the rate of return on equity expansion and enhance dividends.
The company reports that the average annual dividend yield is 5 percent on USD shares and 5.5 percent on Jamaican dollar shares based on the IPO price of the stock in 2018.
The company has US$62.3 million invested in 29 Portfolio Companies in September 2020, an increase of 117 percent over September 2019, with an outlay of US$29 million in 18 Portfolio Companies. The company has commitments amounting to US$8.7 million to fund.
Investments are within the Caribbean, with 50 percent in Jamaica, the Dutch Caribbean islands account for 17 percent and St Lucia 12 percent, with the rest spread over other countries in the region.
The Company’s portfolio of investments surpassed the US$50 million for the year to June 2020 while generating US$4.5 million in total investment income and US$1.97 million in net profits, 3.8 percent less than the prior year with US$2.05 million. First quarter results to September saw Net profits climbing 51 percent to US$798,000 as total investment income grew 19.8 percent to US$1.3 million and portfolio investments grew 117 percent to US$62.3 million.
Shares will be allotted on a first come, first served basis. In other words, the first set of applicants will get full allotment until all the shares are issued as such late applications may end up getting no shares.
ICInsider.com projects earnings of $1.80 per share for the current year to June 2021 based on the existing issued shares with a PE ratio of 9 and 12 for the US dollar issue. The company is poised for growth. The stock is undervalued and should be bought for growth and income; accordingly, it gets ICInsider.com BUY RATED accolade.