Woodcats International heading to the JSE Junior Market

January 27, 2026 by
Woodcats International, manufacturer of wooden pallets and related products, in Jamaica, along with the majority owner are offering to the public by way of an Initial Public Offering (IPO) up to 833.33 million ordinary shares at J$0.90 per share, that will raise J$750 million, if fully taken up and is expected to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market, that will permit them to enjoy 10 year period of tax reduction.

Founded in 1999, the company was acquired by Derrimon Trading Company in 2018, and grown appreciably, with net profit increasing more than sevenfold over five years while doubling revenues to J$1.08 billion in 2024. Interim results show a much slower growth of just 3.8 percent to $840 million, slightly better than the 3.2 percent increase enjoyed in 2024.
The PE ratio at the IPO price of 90 cents is just 11.5, based on the latest profit results, which is below the Junior Market average of over 13, with several stocks priced around 18. ICInsider.com projects a rise in the price following the IPO and listing on the junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
The issue opens on February 2, 2026 and is scheduled to close on February 20,
The board of directors comprises. Earl Anthony Richards, Derrick Cotterell, Ian Kelly, Patrick Mignott, Nicole Burgher, Jermaine Burrell, Carlton Samuels.
The Company effected cost controlled measures with a 6.2 percent reduction in cost despite inflationary pressures. This reduction was achieved while expanding operations, highlighting operational efficiency. Finance costs increased due to higher lease interest expense from additional warehouse space to facilitate growth.
Current Assets amount to $479 million as of September 2025, compared to $490 million in 2024.
Cash and cash equivalents ended the period at $55 million, compared with $59 million in 2024. The company also hold investments amounting to $108 million, including 30 million Derrimon Trading Company shares with a market value of $60 million. Shareholders’ equity stands at $633 million, with non-current liabilities at $144 million, while current liabilities sit at $124 million.

PROSPECTS FOR 2026
Woodcats seems positioned for continued growth with a three-to-five year plan targeting 20 percent compound annual revenue growth through 2028. Actual outcomes can vary from plans. Key strategic initiatives include expanding certified heat treatment capacity by 50 percent within three years, launching composite wood-plastic pallets by Q4 2026, increasing pallet production output by 30 percent by 2027, and growing the Summerland retail brand with five distribution points across Jamaica and CARICOM by 2027. The Company aims to diversify revenue streams with ancillary sales contributing 20 percent of total revenue by 2028, while establishing Woodcats as the recognised regional hub for sustainable pallet solutions with entry into two new CARICOM markets by 2026. Process automation targeting 40 percent of production by 2026 is expected to reduce production time per pallet by 20 percent, supported by full adoption of digital supply chain management tools by 2027.

NCB Capital Markets is the broker for the issue.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Feature Stories, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Atlantic Hardware plunges 17%

April 4, 2025 by

Shares of Atlantic Hardware and Plumbing were listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday, with trading in 1,024,225 between $1.10 and a low of 83 cents when trading in the stock was halted for breaching the exchange circuit breaker rule, with the price having dropped 17 percent to 83 cents from the $1 IPO price.

At the halting of trading in the stock, ahead of the suspension just after 10 this morning, only one share was traded at 83 cents and 2,050 above $1 at the start. Demand for the stock was slow and selling lukewarm, with 1.409 million shares on offer for sale.
Trading will resume three minutes after 11 this morning. Atlantic brings listing back to 48, following the delisting of tTech recently.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , ,

TransJamaican Highway 36% oversubscribed

March 20, 2025 by
The public issue of 1.75 billion shares in TransJamaican Highway by the government of Jamaica was oversubscribed with the offer attracting 22,000 applicants amounting to $12 billion, the Prime Minister of Jamaica disclosed in his budget presentation today.

The initial offer was increased to 2.45 billion units by an additional 750 million shares with a total consideration of $8.82 billion and resulted in a 36 percent oversubscription.
The result is that over $3 billion will be available to come into the secondary market when refunds are made.
Since the opening of the public issue, Transjamaican announced a dividend of 12.58 cents payable in April, while the stock closed trading today at $4.17.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , ,

Paul Scott set for 8 JSE listings

February 21, 2025 by
Another Paul Scott’s company is headed to the Junior Market and will bring the total companies listed to 9, these include Seprod, Caribbean Producers, General Accident, AS Brydens and Sons, Eppley, Epply Caribbean Property Fund, Productivity Business Solutions and Stanley Motta. Scott also has a significant interest in Lumber Depot and Transjamaican Highway in which Musson owns over 595 million shares and is the third largest shareholder.

Atlantic Hardware & Plumbing Company, a 30-year-old wholesale distribution company is offering 499,999,800 shares at $1 each for subscription. Just 200 million will be available to the public as JMMB Group is set to convert loans into shares. The shares are slated to be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The company with a staff complement of 35 is located at 105-107 Marcus Garvey Drive.  The issued share capital is currently 1.95 billion ordinary units. Construct Group owns 975 million units, Lumber Depot 682.5 million units and General Accident 292.5 million shares.  The offer opens on the 27th of February and is scheduled to close on the 13th of March and will most likely close well ahead of the closing date, with only 100 million available for the general public.
The lead broker is JMMB Securities, an affiliate, the holder of a convertible bond, is entitled to exercise the conversion option for up to 300 million shares at $1 per share.
The net proceeds of $470 million will be used to repay debt, this includes the conversion of JMMB convertible bond representing 300 million units.
At the end of September last year borrowed funds surged to $1.34 billion compared to just $177 million at the end of 2023 as the company embarked on a share buyback, in a classic engineering exercise to get it to fit into the Junior Market capital size.

Revenues in 2023 amounted to $1.4 billion with a profit of $147 million before tax. Revenues declined from the 2021 and 2022 levels of $1.67 billion with profit before tax of $318 million and $290 million respectively.  Revenues of $440 million were generated in the September quarter up 30 percent from $339 million in 2023 and for the nine months to September, revenues climbed by 12 percent to $1.23 billion from $1.1 billion in 2023. Profit for the quarter before taxation was $18.7 million versus $69 million and for the year to September 2024 – $84 million compared with $236 million in 2023.
In January, this year, Atlantic sold real property on Ashenheim Road in Kingston. The net sale proceeds will be used to repay approximately $230 million of existing indebtedness. Borrowed funds should fall to around $200 million from the combination of the IPO proceeds and internal funds. Accordingly, interest cost that was $48 million in the September quarter should drop around $20 million annually.
The PE ratio works out at 12.5 times earnings which is unlikely to move the stock much with the market average currently around 13 but there several that are trading above 15. This is not one those companies that has a great future ahead of it and most investors should look elsewhere for better prospects.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, Feature Stories, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

RA Williams comes to market with error filled prospectus

July 17, 2024 by

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.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Omni loses altitude early

June 13, 2024 by

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.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Omni Industries list and jumps 30%

June 11, 2024 by

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.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , ,

Omni Industries latest IPO

May 9, 2024 by

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.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , ,

NCB Financial stock offer a long term investment

May 1, 2024 by

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 Financial Group is pursuing to reallocate capital.”
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.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , ,

Fosrich heading back to market

February 1, 2024 by

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.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, Company Results, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , ,