The initial offering of 400 million shares in RA Williams opens today at 9 in the morning at $1 each and is scheduled to close on the 31st of July but is expected to close much earlier.
Unfortunately, the prospectus has errors relating to data on profitability in 2024, resulting in uncertainty as to what years some of the information relates with both captioned with 2024 as the financial years and error in the interim statement of financial position to January.
The company currently has 1.16 billion shares outstanding and will have 2 billion units issued at the end of what is expected to be a successful offer. The shares are to be listed on the Junior Market, bringing the total listing back to 48. A total of 190 million of the shares being offered are reserved, with just 210 million available for the general public.
with profit before tax of $133 million before tax for EPS of 83 and a PE of 12 times earnings as of April this year. With the market average PE close to 14, there is not much room for short-term growth other than the hype of initial investment in the IPO and the limited number of shares on offer.
R.A. Williams, a primarily pharmacist-owned and operated pharmaceutical distribution company, that started operations in Spanish Town, St. Catherine in 2012.
In commenting on the issue, the Chief Executive Officer, R A Williams states, “We have recently concluded negotiations with Fourrts (India) Laboratories Pvt Ltd and Mankind Pharma Limited, which will see us introducing new treatment options in areas that require treatment with anti-infectives and dermatological options. From this expanded product offering, we expect a boost in the company’s revenues.”
Willaims went on to state, “The Company is in a new cycle of its growth which will be underpinned by the utilisation of a higher proportion of equity to fund its future expansion. As a result, the proceeds from this Invitation will be mainly used to repay the Company’s debts. This debt reduction will have the immediate effect of reducing the Company’s financing costs, thereby increasing the Company’s profitability and the expected returns to shareholders.
They currently distribute over 130 products, serving more than 700 customers across the island.
Growth in Revenues has been strong since 2020, with an increase of 41.6 percent For the year ended April 2023, to $1.4 billion, above sales of $994 million in 2023, which increased by a sharp 54 percent from $647 million in 2021 and was up 29 percent over the $502 million in 2020 with 2020 seeing an increase of 19 percent.
While revenue growth has been impressive, the annual improvement in the bottom line is even more impressive up to 2023. In 2020 while revenues climbed attractively, profit declined 51 percent from $36 million in 2019 to $18 million but grew 133 percent to $42 million in 2021 and by 26 percent to $52 in 2022 and 88 percent in 2023 to $98 million.
Margins on sales have been impressive at 42 percent over the past two years and an average of 43.4 percent since 2019.
Revenues grew by just 6.3 percent for the year to April 2024 to $1.5 billion with profit falling before tax to $133 million from $161 million in 2023.
Shareholders equity stood at $386 million at the end of April this year. In January 2024, short term loan which is erroneously grouped under a caption headed current assets, amounts to $215 million and related party loans of $107 million.
Sagicor Investments are brokers for the issue.
RA Williams comes to market with error filled prospectus
Omni loses altitude early
Trading in the shares of this week’s newly listed Omni Industries is frozen after 5,000 shares were traded at $1.05 at 12:44 PM after over 4.29 million shares were traded as high as a dollar $1.30.
The stock is scheduled to resume trading just before 1.45 PM. Bids on the stock have thinned out with 21 bids to purchase shares with the highest being 45,000 shares at $1.02 while the lowest offers are at $1.24 for 201,765 shares with 148 offers currently up to a high of $6 and 69 with offers at $1.41 and below. Bids and offers could change markedly when trading resumes, but the quick fall back in price since Tuesday is not a good sign for investors trying to get out with a decent profit in the short term.
The Junior Market Index slipped to 3,693.66 points from Wednesday’s close of 3,712.88 while the JSE Index rose from 318,607.35 to 320,281.27.
Omni Industries list and jumps 30%
Omni Industries Limited, the latest listing on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange following an offer of 500 million ordinary shares to the public in May at $1 each, traded 3,138,093 shares up $1.30 for a rise of 30 percent on the public offer that was oversubscribed.
The stock opened trading at $1.25, triggering the market circuit breaker before trading up to $1.30 up to 11.44 AM. The stock has several bids and offers with the highest bid of 995,429 shares at $1.30 with one offer at $1.35 then at $1.40.
As a result of the oversubscription, 20 million shares allocated for Employees were allotted 97.8 percent of the amount applied for. Key Partners’ pool of 234 million shares was allocated 87.2 percent of the applications. Lead Broker Reserve Pool received all of the 125,068,617 shares that were allotted. The general public was allotted the first 10,000 ordinary shares applied for and 25.5 percent of the balance.
Omni Industries latest IPO
Omni Industries Limited and existing shareholders will offer up to 500 million ordinary shares to the public with the offer opening Friday May 17, with Friday, May 31 being the scheduled closing.
Half of the total issue or 250 million shares are new with an equal number to be sold by existing shareholders, bringing the total issued shares to 2.5 billion units and the shareholders’ equity capital to over $900 million.
Profit before tax was $180 million for 2023, up from $174 million in 2022 and $121 million in 2021. The first quarter interim results to March this year, show flat revenues and slightly lower profits at $103 million pretax versus $123 million in 2023. The earnings come out at 8 cents per share based on 2023 figures, putting the PE at just over 12, a shade below the junior Market average of 12 3 and an indication of minimal upside in the short run.
At least 120,931,383 participating ordinary shares are available for subscription by the public and up to 379,068,617 shares are for Reserve Share Applicants.
The company is based in Spanish Town the principal activities are the manufacturing and sale of PVC pipes, conduits, horses, fittings and plastic warehouse items.
The stock is slated for the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and if listed will partially restore the total listings on that market but only to 47, after three companies migrated to the main Market this year.
NCB Capital Markets is the brokers for the issue.
NCB Financial stock offer a long term investment
NCB Financial will be offering 78.5 million Ordinary Shares to the public to purchase at $65 per each of which 785,000 are Reserved Shares for staff at $58.
NCB Financial
The issue opens on May 6 at 9 AM and is slated to close on May 27, 2024 subject to the right of the Company to close it at any time after the opening date once the Invitation is fully subscribed.
The issue may be upsized to a maximum of 117.75 million shares. The issue is expected to raise between $5 billion if only the initial offer is subscribed to and up to $7.6 billion if the issue is upsized to the maximum.
The number of shares being initially offered will raise the issued share capital from 2.545 billion units to 2.624 billion and if the amount is upsized fully, to 2.663 billion.
The financial group states that they “intend to use the net proceeds from this Invitation to support a part of our deliberate plan to reallocate capital with a focus on reducing debt and bolstering the capital in the NCB Financial Group. This APO is one of multiple strategies that the NCB.”
Equity attributable to stockholders of the parent totalled $159.7 billion, an increase of $27.1 billion or 20 percent over the prior year. The growth in equity was mainly attributable to increased retained earnings and a reduction in unrealised fair value losses.
An APO brings an additional supply of shares to the market and will satisfy the demand for a large pool of investors for several months if not years, as such the issue is likely to keep the price of the stock subdued for some time unless there is a big jump in profitability to make them more attractive as an investment and thus encourage increased buying to move the stock price up appreciably.
Recent issues of APO, except for those issued by Barita Investments send a cautionary note for investors looking for early capital gains. While the APO is priced at $65, the stock is trading closer to $63 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
NCBFG and its subsidiaries operate in 21 territories across the Caribbean, with the main operating territories being Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Dutch Antilles, and Bermuda. The Group’s business, results of operations and financial condition are materially affected by the economic, social and political conditions of these countries.
Fosrich heading back to market
Junior Market listed FosRich is considering another Public Offer of shares to the market, a release from the company to the Jamaica Stock Exchange indicates and if approved would represent the second public offering of shares in less than a year.
The company offered 55,729,647 shares to the public in July 2023 at $2.50 each which was fully taken up.
According to the Stock Exchange release, the directors will meet on February 6 to consider a recommendation to shareholders at an extraordinary meeting, the issue of the additional ordinary shares, at a time to be determined.
The company’s nine-month results, show revenues of $2.86 billion, up 11 percent from $2.58 billion in 2022 resulting in a profit plunging to just $135 million from $388 million in the prior year with earnings per share of 3 cents compared to 8 cents in 2022 in the prior period. The company reported a loss of $27 million in the third quarter compared to a profit of $90 million in the similar 2022 quarter
Fisrich shares traded 3.2 million shares with a gain of 17 cents yesterday to close at $2.47.
61% over the top
One Great Studio Initial Public Offer of shares earlier this month was 61 percent oversubscribed in successfully raising just over $338 million. The stock commenced trading on Tuesday last week on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market and became the 49 listed Junior Market company but that won’t last that way for long as General Accident is expected to migrate to the Main Market on September 29.
The IPO attracted over 3,600 new subscribers and brings the total number of ordinary shares listed on the exchange to 101, pushing the number of securities listed to 149, a release from the Jamaica Stock Exchange stated.
The total capital raised by Junior Market companies totals $21.23 billion, with the above listing lifting the market capitalization of the Market from $187.34 billion as of September 18 to $189 billion.
“We are proud that you will be listing on a market that when benchmarked to pre-Covid activities is doing well,’ said Ms Andrea Kelly, General Manager of the Jamaica Central Securities Depository and JCSD Trustee Services, in her welcoming remarks at the Listing Ceremony. Ms Kelly stated that during the period 2017 to 2019, a total of 79,480 new accounts were created and 110,353, from 2020 to August 2023. “What this means is that we are steadily, despite the current market conditions, building a pool of investors from which companies can tap for equity and debt capital through the Main, Junior and Bond Markets”, stated Ms. Kelly.
Djuvane Browne, Managing Director
Addressing the audience at the Company’s listing ceremony, IGS, Djuvane Browne, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, “This is an extremely humbling experience and I think the market has communicated clearly through this offer that they are still interested in investing in great companies. We’d like to thank everyone who participated in this offer “The listing of One Great Studio on the Jamaica Stock Exchange holds profound significance for both Jamaica and the wider region. It exemplifies the potential of young and aspiring entrepreneurs who, armed with their ideas and dedication, can transform those concepts into tangible plans and a client-centric focus.”
One Great Studio that was offered to the public at $1 ended trading on the first day of listing at $1.14 up 14 percent and went on during the week to trade as high as $1.36 on Thursday.
One great Studio IPO allocations
Allocation of ordinary shares in the public offer of 338,627,439 shares in One Great Studio Company Limited that was oversubscribed, has been determined.
According to Barita Investments, brokers for the issue, all applicants in the One Great Studio Team Members and Key Strategic Partners will get full the amounts applied for and General Public the first 20,000 shares applied for and approximately 34.09 percent of the balance.
Applications that were only accepted in part will be refunded the balance of their subscription monies as per the Prospectus, the release stated. The release states that they will now proceed to apply for a listing of its Ordinary Shares on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, that will bring the total listings on the market to 49.
The level of oversubscription was not stated, but the level of allocation suggests that it was not one of the hot issues as a result, there is unlikely to be any sort term bounce of note, in the early days after the shares are listed.
One Great Studio comes to market
One Great Studio Company seems set to be the 49th listed Junior Market company and the second to list in 2023, a year of limited interest in listings.
The Company was incorporated in Jamaica in July 2012 and provides web design, search engine optimization, web development and software development services.
Just over 338.62 million Ordinary Shares are being sold to the public at $1 each, with half of the amount reserved for Key partners. Applications must be for a minimum of 10,000 Shares. Some $338.6 million is slated to be raised from the issue. Some of the proceeds will be used to reduce long-term loans.
A total of 1,354,503,636 shares are currently issued and will climb to 1,693,131,075 units if the issue is entirely taken up.
The Invitation will open on August 28, with the Closing Date set for September 18, but it should close very close to the opening date. Barita Investments are the broker for the issue.
Increase in revenues since 2021 shows strong growth, with the quarter to March this year generating sales of $115 million, up from $44 million in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 160 percent and amounts to 48 percent of the full year revenues of $239 million to December last year. Revenues in 2021 amounted to $128 million.
Djuvane Browne, Chief Executive Officer.
Pretax profit amounts to $29 million for the March 2023 quarter versus $35 million for the twelve months to December 2022, compared to pretax profit of $29 in 2021. Projections by the Company show revenues rising to $538 million for 2023 and pretax profit of $137 million, if achieved, it will result in the PE ratio of the IPO being 10 times current year’s earnings, with the stock likely to double after listing.
Consistent with our projected increases in revenues, we are projecting that with the incorporation of the business infrastructure and other operations, to see growth in Profit before Tax moving from $35.47 million in 2022 to $136.92 million in 2023.
The group delivered a gross profit margin of 52 percent for the March quarter, with 2022 delivering 53 percent and 59 percent for 2021.
Total current assets in March 2023 amount to $178 million, with cash and Investments of $131 million. Total current liabilities ended at $57 million, Long-term loans amount to $290 million, with shareholders’ equity of $181 million.
The directors are John Bailey, Djuvane Browne, Chief Executive Officer, Gina DeLisser, and Jacqueline Sharp, former CEO of Scotia Group, who are all listed as business persons. At the same time, Simone Bowie Jones and Marc Ramsay are Attorney-at-Law.
Why accountants cant compute earnings per share?
The latest company to get the computation of earnings per share wrong is the last to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, but it is not the only one that has accountants and auditors that cannot compute earnings per share properly. The other most recent listing got it terribly wrong, not only did this happen for the interim accounts, most likely produced internally but the audited report had the wrong computation as well.
Dr. Karlene McDonnough – Chairman of Image Consultants Ltd.
The correct computation of earnings per share is so critical, with investors using it to value shares of companies. A wrong calculation can result in distorted valuation by investors placed on a stock and it only needs to be in the marketplace for a few days for enormous potential damage to be done.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange in publishing reports with woefully inaccurate earnings per share figures should place a bold note with the release of the results that there is an error in the EPS so that all investors can be aware of it upfront. This approach is recommended rather than waiting for the company to re-compute it as the release of profits is also of much import to the market. this will require a different approach by the JSE than the current practice.
Image Plus Consultants which was listed just over a week ago reported a strong increase in revenues and profits but spoilt it by reporting excessively overstated earnings per share as they used the incorrect number of shares in the computation. Rather than 29 cents per share for the quarter and $1.84, it reported the computation is 2.3 cents and 15 cents for the nine months. One on One Education did the same thing for both their audited accounts and the first quarter results, both of which were corrected this past week after it was in the public domain for several days before the revision. This publication has been critical of the boards of both companies. The latest error shows the lack of experience on behalf of the board members as well as their accountant and the stock exchange must share the blame as well.
Ricardo Allen CEO of One to One
It is one thing for a company to get the computation wrong, it is an entirely different issue for auditors to do the same. The problem is that on too many occasions this error is cropping up and the situation seems to get worse as the Junior Market listings grow.
Stock splits or stock bonuses do not result in averaging shares issued. All that is needed in such cases is to use the new number of shares in computing EPS and all past periods are to be adjusted likewise. Only when new shares are issued for a consideration of value that the time weighted average number of shares would be used.
We have written on more than one occasion that investors in Jamaica are not properly protected, the above errors are just some of the matters that need to be addressed, but like the Stocks and Securities issue and others similar, those in authority fail to move with alacrity in correcting the fault.
