Indies Pharma IPO 2.5 times over

July 18, 2018 by

Indies Pharma went to the capital market last week Thursday to raise $248.4 million from 174 million shares for its own use while existing shareholders offered 92.5 million units to raise nearly $139 million.
Information reaching IC Insider.com indicates that the offer that closed on Friday attracted some 2,800 applications, covering over than $1 billion and was about 2.5 times oversubscribed. GK Capital the lead broker pulled in about 50 percent of the inflows, our source indicates. The number of applicants sits just below the amount attracted by Victoria Mutual Investments which was in excess of 3,000.
The shares were mostly priced at $1.50 each with lower prices for shares reserved for selected groups. Only 60 million shares were set aside for the general public. The proceed for the shares sold by the company is expected to be used to pay off loans to its parent company and banks, working capital and funds the cost of the issue. The total issued shares currently amount to 1,158,553,500 units and the issue of 173,983,149 shares, raises the total shares to 1,332,536,649 units.
Indies Pharma is a pharmaceutical distribution company out of Montego Bay, which sold its first pharmaceutical 2005, and today distributes over 150 prescription and over the counter pharmaceutical formulations for Bioprist Holdings under the ‘Bioprist’ brand and operates the Trident Pharmacy located nearby in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

The chairman and founder of Indies Pharma

The Company currently services customers across the island, including over 400 pharmacies, private and public hospitals and government agencies including the National Health Fund as well as medical practitioners and directly to individuals.
Investors demand has pushed prices in the post IPO period to peak around 15 times current year’s earnings. On this basis, it seems likely that Indies Pharma will peak around $2.5 based on IC Insider.com’s projected earnings in 2018, of 17 cents per share, it could go higher with the high level of applicants for the shares.
For the half year to April, revenues rose 10 percent to $301 million over the similar period in 2017 but profit is only up 6 percent to $73 million from $69 million before tax. IC Insider.com’s forecast is for a 16 percent increase in pretax profit to $200 million for the current year. The company could pick up additional sales and profit as a result of the publicity that emanates from the IPO and subsequent listing.

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

Indies Pharma could make you money

July 12, 2018 by

Indies Pharma goes to market on Thursday to raise $248.4 million from 174 million shares for its own use while the current shareholders are offering 92.5 million units to raise nearly $139 million.
Only 60 million shares are set aside for the general public. The shares are mostly priced at $1.50 each with lower prices for shares reserved for selected groups. The proceed is expected to be used to pay off loans to its parent company and bank loans, working capital and funds the cost of the issue. The total issued shares currently amount to 1,158,553,500 units and the issue of 173,983,149 shares, if successful will raise the total issued shares to 1,332,536,649 units.
Indies Pharma is a pharmaceutical distribution company out of Montego Bay, which sold its first pharmaceutical 2005, and today distributes over 150 prescription and over the counter pharmaceutical formulations for Bioprist Holdings under the ‘Bioprist’ brand and operates the Trident Pharmacy located nearby in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay. The Company currently services customers across all 14 parishes of the island, including over 400 pharmacies, private and public hospitals and government agencies including the National Health Fund as well as medical practitioners, and directly to individual end users.
Based on how investors have gone about pricing IPOs at their peak, it seems likely that Indies Pharma will peak around $2.45 based on IC Insider.com’ projected earnings in 2018, of 17 cents per share. It could even go higher if the number of applicants for shares exceed those Junior Market IPOs from those going back to 2017.
The stock sits in the mid-range of IC Insider.com’s ranking of Junior Market stocks with a PE of 9, just a bit less than the average of 11 for the market but most IPOs have traded around 15 times the current year’s earnings at the peak reached within 2 weeks or so.
Indies is not the cleanest entity to come public in recent years. The prospectus shows that there are clear areas of management weakness that need sorting out, but they are not alone, Elite Diagnostics exhibited some similar traits in spite of having men with business experience as board members. The promoters and directors should never have allowed the prospectus to be put out with scanned copy of the audited accounts from the book issued by the auditors. It does not telegraph a good message about management.
The financials are strong but here again it reflects concerns. The statement of Financial position show amount dues from directors standing at $166 million per the half year report. Under the tax laws of Jamaica such amounts may be taxable if not repaid within a certain time frame as the amount would be treated as a distribution. Its is unclear if this issue is addressed in the prospectus.
The company has some strong positives. At the end of October 2017 borrowed funds exceeded shareholders’ equity this has changed by April this year with equity of $374 million well ahead of debt of $194 million. For one Gross profit which has been running between 75 percent to 62 percent between over the past five years with the half year to March coming out at very strong 62 percent, revenues grew an average of 15 percent for the past 4 years but only 6 percent in 2017 but is up by 10 percent for the half year to April. The company has been able to keep cost well under control and this has enable a richness in profitability with pretax profit rising 56 percent in 2017 89 percent in 2016 and 154 percent in 2015 after a 25 percent increase in 2014. The profit for 2016 would have been even better if there was not a loss on sale of fixed asset in the 2017 period amounting to $32 million but the rise in 2017 would likewise be less.
For the half to April this year revenues rose 10 percent to $301 million over the similar period in 2017 but profit is only up 6 percent to $73 million from $69 million before tax. IC Insider.com forecast is for a 16 percent increase in pretax profit to $200 million for the current year. The company could pick up additional sales as a result of the publicity that emanates from the listing.
going forward the slow seen in revenues in 2017 to date has to be watched as that could suggest maturing of the company but they have a long pipe line of applications in to add products to the existing lines.

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

Mayberry Jamaican Equities hits market

July 9, 2018 by

Mayberry Investments (MIL) offer of 120,114,929 ordinary shares at $7.56 in the capital of Mayberry Jamaican Equities opens today at 9 and is scheduled to close on July 30.
The offer is slated to raise $908 million after cost of relating to the issue. The shares are expected to be listed on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, if the issue is successfully taken up and will result in 80 percent of the shares owned by MIL. MIL states in the prospectus that they will reduce their holding if they receive institutional buying interest in them.
There is an inter-company margin loan of J$545,386,403 due to MIL but after the offer, the loan is expected to be fully repaid. The offer is fully underwritten by companies owned by Mark and Christopher Berry.
Mayberry Jamaican Equities is a closed end mutual fund that will be paying a cash dividend. The Board intends to adopt a liberal dividend policy. Assuming there are sufficient distributable reserves then for each financial year the Company intends to target a dividend payout of up to 75 percent of net profits after tax.

Mayberry Head office in Kingston.

Currently it holds shares of just under 20 percent in 4 Junior Market companies. The holdings include, Lasco Financial Services with 250,845,826 shares representing 19.89 percent, Blue Power Group with 11,247,801 stock units, accounting for 19.91 percent ownership, Caribbean Producers 218,286,855 shares or 19.84 percent of the company’s shares and IronRock Insurance with 42.5 million units, 19.86 percent. The company also owns 10.38 percent of issued shares in Main Event Entertainment Group and 15.1 percent in Supreme Ventures and smaller amounts in Caribbean Cement, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Scotia Group, NCB Financial Group, Wisynco and JMMB Group.
The Company does not have any employees of its own and that is consistent with its business model. It has an investment management agreement with Mayberry Asset Management (“MAM”). MAM in turn relies on the investment expertise of its principals, Christopher Berry, Konrad Mark Berry and Gary Peart, to provide the requisite investment management services to the Company. A performance fee of 8% of any increase in the Company’s Total Comprehensive Income must be paid to MAM.
The Company will buy and sell securities from, and to, brokers and dealers in the Jamaican market and the US securities market. It may also invest in bonds or notes issued by borrowing companies.
At the end of 2017, shareholders equity stood at US$71 million up from US$51.6 million in 2016 as the underlying investment grew in value. Revenues from interest dividends and trading gains amounted to $3.7 million from $1.7 million in 2016 and profit of US$3.1 million compared to $1.26 million. The company reported profit of $1.25 million for the March 2018 quarter from total revenues of $1.87 million and shareholders’ equity rose to US$76.2 million.
There are positives and negatives to take from the offer. Unlike unit trust, the issue may not provide the same level of liquidity, but the use of leverage from time to time can boost returns for the portfolio, if executed properly. The flip side it can negatively affect returns if the portfolio value stagnates of falls.
The vehicle is new to the stock exchange and it is not known how investors will price the stock once listed.

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

IPO facts investors should know

July 8, 2018 by

“Hello my dear client, the day we have been waiting for to increase your wealth is here. The Mayberry Jamaican Equities IPO has finally arrived, the stock is a must have at this time. Attached are the Prospectus and Application Form for your attention. The official opening date is Monday, July 9, 2018, the demand is high so please don’t delay,” Kind regards, a MIL wealth adviser.
The above was a message sent out by one of Mayberry’s wealth advisor. A group of investors stated in 2017 that investors cannot go wrong with Junior Market IPOs, all that has to be done is just buy, buy, buy and the investor cannot fail to make money. Some investors in the last two IPOs, Sygnus Credit and Everything Fresh bought into the issues heavily, hoping to catch an early bounce and pocket the profit. That the initial bounce did not last, should be a lesson to speculators.

%8 Half Way Tree Road owned by Stanley Motta.

Laden with 6 main and Junior Market stocks, Mayberry Jamaican Equities is issuing 120,114,929 ordinary shares to the public, at a price of $7.57 each. Investors really ought to know what they are buying into when IPOs are being issued, rather than thinking that the price of each IPO can only go in one direction – up. As the stock market matures and more persons come to the party of stock ownership, the valuations that new IPOs come to the market at, will continue to rise and less immediate potential gains will be priced in. In some cases, investors will need to look long term for the payoff from their investment.
Everything Fresh, Sygnus Credit, Stanley Motta and Mayberry Jamaican Equities fall into this category. GWest was another company that many investors got carried away with, in pushing the price to $4 with many buying at inflated values, now the stock trades in the low $2 range. A reminder of an adage, that successful trading starts at buying at the right price. GWest business model is based mainly on generating most income and profits coming from operating mini hospital and other patient care. Real estate income going forward was going to be secondary and would not contribute much to profit. Profit made in the year before listing was mostly from sale of real estate and that was not something that would continue for any prolonged period. Without a track record in providing healthcare, investors who bought the stock in the high $3-4 level must have been hoping that the forecast in the prospectus was going to be achieved on a timely basis. The results to March show revenues well below forecast from the new operations. The company projected medical income to March this year, at $86 million but only generated $17.4 million and that puts the issue of generating the forecasted $710 million for fiscal year 2019, in doubt. Admittedly, the company had projected a loss to March of $110 million but came up sharply lower with a loss of $88 million.
Investors should recognize that not all IPOs are equal. They should also realize that there is a clear pattern that prices then to move up for strongly demanded issues and the undergo some correction. The data shows that the best time to buy after the IPO closes is on the first day or two or a few weeks after when demand falls off and supply increases as short term investors try to offload.
Data for listings in 2016 to 2018 show and average of 31 percent correction for Junior Market stocks from the highest point to the lowest, after listings which tends to occur within 4 weeks of listing. IPOS from Mayberry seem to have a lower pull back in price, around an average of 23 percent while most others, average around 33 percent. Three main market stocks pull back from their highest point, range from just 15 percent for Victoria Mutual Investments to 31 percent for Wisynco and 29 percent for Sygnus Credit Investments.
Based on how investors have gone about pricing IPOs at their peak it seems likely that Indies Pharma will peak around $2.40 based on projected earnings in 2018, of 16 cents per share. It could even go higher if the number of investors who apply for shares exceed those Junior Market listings IPOS from those going back to 2018.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, Investment Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Indies Pharma IPO coming this week

July 3, 2018 by

Last year summer was hot, very hot for the Jamaica stock market as for the first time there were multiple Initial Public Offers (IPO) on the local market at the same time.
This summer is turning out to be another hot one as well. Already, there are two new issues out with Stanley Motta and Mayberry Jamaican Equity to open this week.
Information reaching IC Insider.com is that another Montego Bay based company, Indies Pharma will issue its prospectus by the end of this week, to raise around $400 million. The issue is likely to be priced at just under 10 times 2017 earnings but slightly less, based on earnings for 2018, IC Insider gathers. According to the company’s website, they have approximately more than hundred drug presentations in the market and have filed to have more than 350 drugs licensed at the Jamaica Ministry of Health and hope to capture 10 percent of the local market after they obtain the licenses. The broker handling the offer is GK Capital.
IC Insider also gathers that there is a venture capital firm offering shares in a private placement currently.

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

Motta for income & long term gain

July 3, 2018 by

The Musson Group is disposing of all their interest in Stanley Motta Limited in a scheduled sale of all the 757,818,862 ordinary shares currently owned.
Our source states that the business which is a solely a real estate venture is not part of Musson’s core business. If the shares are listed it would be the fifth company connected to the group to do so.

ALorica, parent company of the prime tenant at 58 Half Way Tree Rd.

The offer has 227,348,547 shares reserved mostly for family members of the majority shareholders of the Musson group and 529,970,315 units for the General Public for purchase at $5.31 per share. All the net proceeds will be payable to selling Shareholders. Sources indicates that General Accident Insurance will make be taking up a large block of the shares that offered to the public.
The Company intends to apply to the Jamaica Stock Exchange for the listing on the Main Market of all the Shares and to make such application as soon as is conveniently possible following the close of the offer. The offer opens on July 6, with July 20 set as the closing date.
A business process outsourcing and technology park consisting of five buildings totalling over 200,000 square feet of rentable commercial office space at.
The company owns 58 Half Way Tree Road in Kingston, next door to the new Kingston, comprising 200,000 square feet of rentable space that is fully leased with the lease quoted in US dollar. Tenants are responsible for all expenses arising by reason of occupation, including insurance, property tax and maintenance expenses. The weighted average tenor and annual rent per square foot are 4.7 years and US$12.09, respectively.
The anchor tenant is Jamaica Agent Services Limited, the local subsidiary of Alorica Inc. Alorica is a US based global business process outsourcing firm and the third largest provider of customer experience solutions in the world. The company has over 100,000 employees and operates from 140 locations in 16 countries around the world in North America and the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, China, the Philippines, and Japan. Alorica serves over 600 clients many of which are on the annual list of the 500 largest companies in the United States as compiled by Fortune magazine. Under the terms of Stanley Motta’s two leases with Alorica, who took possession of Units 2, 3 and 4 each as a “cold hard shell” and paid to complete the buildings at its own expense including all interior walls, ceilings and finishes.

Site plan of 58 Half Way tree road.

The complex will be managed by Felton Property Management Services Limited, a subsidiary of Musson. Felton will be responsible for all day-to-day on-site property management, administration and accounting services.
The property is a designated Free Zone, accordingly, Stanley Motta is exempt from corporate income tax on the rental income of Free Zone property.
The Board expects to distribute approximately 90% as dividends subject change from time-to-time if circumstances dictate.
The Projected Valuation obtained from an independent appraiser, using the income capitalization approach, for Unit 4 at completion is US$21.3 million or approximately $2.63 billion using rates of exchange as at December 31, 2017 and $2.79 billion using the weighted average selling rate according to the Bank of Jamaica as of June 19.
The Company’s sole source of direct income is from the rental of units in the technology park. Its only other source of income is from dividends from Unity Capital, whose sole income is derived from the rental of office space in its building at 58 Half Way Tree Road. The lack of diversification means that the Company is particularly exposed to risks affecting the property market.
The Invitation is underwritten by the Underwriter up to a maximum of the equivalent of US$21 million.
The stock is not for all investors in the short term. Investors looking for relatively high return in US dollars with modest capital appreciation over time may find this an attractive offer. While most investors may view the income in US dollars as a big positive, they ought to be aware that continued devaluation of the local currency going forward is not guaranteed. Of note is that the rental income for a full year is likely to be in the order of US$2.5 million with most expenses picked up by tenants, it should net out around the same amount tax free. The yield on investment will translate to just under 7 percent. The property has room for some amount of expansion which is done could increase the revenues and profit. The new leases while priced at $12 per square foot is set to rise to $14 dollar at renewal in 5 years and should go higher on renewal thereafter.
With Jamaica, on target to lower the fiscal deficit to 60 percent of GDP and with government maintaining balanced fiscal operations inflation going forward is likely to remain low and should result in low interest rates, against this back drop ground, the income from this operation could see investors ultimately acquiring the stock as a good income play and then drive up the price over time.

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

Sygnus Credit IPO rakes in $3.8B

May 18, 2018 by

Some 3,200 applications with more than $3.8 billion chased after the Sygnus Credit Investments offer of 90,909,091 ordinary shares preliminary data out of the company is indicating.
The company went to the market to raise J$1.3 million but can upsize the amount it takes in case of oversubscription of the offer.
The offer is expected to close on Wednesday, May 16 received applications from Jamaicans and persons from overseas, including the wider Caribbean, ICInsider.com was informed. The company is likely to take up approximately 60 percent of the excess demand in keeping with the terms in the Prospectus that gave them the right to uplift the take in case of oversubscription.
With the oversubscription, the total issued shares projected to be just over 250 million units should end up at just over 300 million ordinary shares.
Sygnus Credit Investments is a specialty private credit investment company dedicated to providing non-traditional financing to medium-sized firms across the wider Caribbean region. These companies typically have revenues between US$5 million and US$25 million.
The investment objective of the Company is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns with an emphasis on principal protection by generating current income, and to a lesser extent capital appreciation, through investments primarily in Portfolio Companies using private credit instruments.
The company’s capital structure and the choice of investing the funds will tend to result in a return closer to fixed interest levels, but likely higher than some bank lending rates. In short to medium term, investors should be looking for steady growth but relatively high dividend payments in the medium term. The falling interest rates on Jamaican dollar money market instruments will make the dividend payment a very attractive source of income.
The company intends to pay out up to 85 percent of its net income as dividends to shareholders, payable on a quarterly basis. The target dividend yield is over 7 percent on the IPO price.
In December 2017, SCI had US$16.7 million in assets and generated net profits of US$660,855. The value of the investment in Portfolio Companies was US$11.6 million, generating a yield of 10.3 percent.
Earnings for the 2019 fiscal year could be around J$1-1.2 per share and that could see the stock trading between $15 and $20 within twelve months. Returns could be greater if they use borrowed funds to meet some of their demand for funding.
The Company currently has a robust pipeline of US$31.4 million in deals to finance, of which US$3.2 million has been approved, US$12.3 million has been mandated and US$15.9 million are at various stages of prospecting.

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

Sygnus Credit garners US$21m so far

May 11, 2018 by

Sygnus Credit Investments offer of up to 90,909,091 ordinary share is said to be oversubscribed with around 3,000 applications amounting to more than US$21 million compared to the US$10 million that was being sought.
The offer is expected to close early next week our sources advice, with the amounts subscribed to likely to increase to those above. Applications have been received from the diaspora and within the wider Caribbean, IC Insider.com was informed. The company is likely to take up approximately 60 percent of the excess demand in keeping with the clause in the Prospectus that gave them the right to up lift the take in case of an oversubscription.
With the level of oversubscription, the total issued shares that was projected to be just over 250 million units should end up at just over 300 million ordinary shares.
The prospectus list the current yield on the portfolio of invested funds at 10.3 percent.
The capital structure of the company and the choice of investing funds will tend to result in a return closer to fixed interest levels, but likely higher than some bank lending rates, in the short to medium term as such investors should be looking for steady growth but relatively high dividend payments in the medium term. The falling interest rates on Jamaican dollar money market instrument will make the dividend payment very attractive source of income.
Sygnus Credit Investments is a specialty private credit investment company, dedicated to providing non-traditional financing to medium-sized firms across the wider Caribbean region. These companies typically have revenues between US$5 million and US$25 million.
The investment objective of the Company is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns with an emphasis on principal protection, by generating current income, and to a lesser extent capital appreciation, through investments primarily in Portfolio Companies using private credit instruments.
The company intends to pay out up to 85 percent of its net income as dividends to shareholders, payable on a quarterly basis. The target dividend yield is over 7 percent on the IPO price.
At December 2017, SCI had US$16.7 million in assets and generated net profits of US$660,855. The value of investment in Portfolio Companies was US$11.6 million, generating a yield of 10.3 percent.
Earnings for 2019 fiscal year could be around J$1-1.2 per share and that could see the stock trading between $15 and $20 within twelve months. Returns could be greater if they use borrowed funds to meet some of the demand they have for funding.
The Company currently has a robust pipeline of US$31.4 million in deals to finance, of which US$3.2 million has been approved, US$12.3 million has been mandated and US$15.9 million are at various stages of prospecting.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers

Everything Fresh not ok for every investor

May 6, 2018 by

Everything Fresh is seeking to raise $390 million from the issue of 156 million shares at $2.50 each, with the offer opening on Thursday May 17, but everything is not right for all investors in this issue.
The stock is richly valued and not priced to deliver much in short term gains for new investors. On the assumption that sales would continue to grow at the pace 2017 over 2016 then profit could reach around $65 million excluding the impact of the IPO capital injection could have. At this level, earnings per share would be around 10 cents and would put the PE ratio at a rich 25 times this year’s earnings. Net asset value is just 40 cents per share with the stock priced at 6.5 times book value that is higher than a large number of listings on the Junior Market and is being sold at a premium to the average listing, by a big margin. The added capital could help lift the company’s performance to new levels delivering strong future earnings.
Up to 129,700,000 of the shares are reserved for selected applicants, leaving 26.3 million units for the general public. The proceed of the offer is to provide working capital support to its operations to allow for increase its customer base and stock levels thereby increasing revenues and build warehousing facilities and purchasing of equipment for storage and delivery of goods. The company intends to install solar system to reduce it energy costs. The company sees the opportunity to expand its to other Caribbean countries.
Operations started in 2008, data provided indicates that revenues hit $919 million in 2013 and generated pretax profit of $61 million. Revenues grew each year reaching $1.8 billion in 2017 with profit of $45 million before taxation of $8 million. The fall in profit for 2017 is due mainly to increase in payment for management team that was previously nominally paid, bringing it more in line with what more normal levels and foreign exchange losses of $4 million. Revenues and profit growth slowed but in 2015 revenues started to rise but lower profit margins resulted in a reduction in profits.
Many junior listings were constrained by inadequate capital restricting their ability to grow as market demand dictates. The same seems true for Everything Fresh. No doubt the added capital will provide funds for expansion that should boost revenues and hopefully profit going forward. Based on the need for more warehouse space the payoff will not be immediate as such, newer investors may have to wait for the pay day.
It imports and distributes food products such as dairy products, delicatessen meats, assorted dry and canned goods, fruits, vegetables, seafood and meats to various locally based supermarkets and hotels.
While the company has been profitable for several years, the prospectus does not carry information on the 2018 operations, leaving investors in the dark about what is happening in 2018 with more than four months having elapsed. Analytically, this is a dark sign suggesting that the results for the period is not inspiring. Investors deserve better than this.
The board of directors are Jennifer Elice Lewis, Vivette Elana Miller, Stephen Greig, Garret Samuel Gardner, Nesha Ann-Marie Carby, Donovan Hugh Perkins, Mark Hugh Arscott Croskery, Gregory Lancelot Pullen, Courtney Lancelot Pullen and Melene Rose Pullen.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , ,

Sygnus Credit priced for a bounce

April 27, 2018 by

Sygnus Credit Investments is offering 90,909,091 ordinary shares in two classes in the the company at J$13.72 for shares denominated in Jamaican dollar and 11 US cents for the US dollar ordinary shares. 

The issues are to be partially underwritten up to the equivalent of US$5 million by Sagicor Investments. If all shares are taken up in the IPO there will be 250,178,614 ordinary shares issued. The prospectus list the current yield on the portfolio of invested funds at 10.3 percent. In the event that of oversubscriptions, the issuer has the right to upsize the amount to be accepted.
Subscription list opens 9 am on May 2 and is scheduled to close on May 16 if not closed earlier.
The capital structure of the company and the choice of investing funds will tend to result in a return closer to fixed interest levels, but likely higher than some bank lending rates, in the short to medium term as such investors should be looking for steady growth but relatively high dividend payments in the medium term. The falling interest rates on Jamaican dollar money market instrument will make the dividend payment very attractive source of income.
Sygnus Credit Investments is a specialty private credit investment company, dedicated to providing non-traditional financing to medium-sized firms across the wider Caribbean region. These companies typically have revenues between US$5 million and US$25 million.
The investment objective of the Company is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns with an emphasis on principal protection, by generating current income, and to a lesser extent capital appreciation, through investments primarily in Portfolio Companies using private credit instruments.
In 2017, the Company raised US$16 million in equity from 44 investors, with more than half the capital raised from institutional investors. The top 5 largest institutional holders invested $8.5 million and owns 52.9 percent of the Issued Shares. The fund raised was used to capitalize the company and invest in Portfolio Companies. The targeted investment types include bilateral notes and bonds, preference shares, asset backed debt, mezzanine debt, convertible debt and other forms of structured private credit instruments. These types of financing are typically more aligned with the growth and expansion plans of Portfolio Companies.
The company intends to pay out up to 85 percent of its net income as dividends to shareholders, payable on a quarterly basis. The target dividend yield is over 7 percent on the IPO price.
At December 2017, SCI had US$16.7 million in assets and generated net profits of US$660,855. The value of investment in Portfolio Companies was US$11.6 million, generating a yield of 10.3 percent.
Sygnus Capital Management, the Investment Manager, seeded SCI with US$540,000 and owns 3.4 percent of the issued shares. In total, Sygnus Capital Management and Sygnus related parties invested US$1.04 million and owns 6.5 percent of the Issued Shares.
Earnings for 2019 fiscal year could be around J$1-1.2 per share and that could send the stock to between $15 and $20 within twelve months. Returns could be greater if they use borrowed funds to meet some of the demand they have for funding. According to Jason Morris they intend to use borrowed funds once they have used up the equity now being raised. Book Value per Share was 10.5 US cents at the end of 2017.
Thirty-eight-point-nine percent of the fair value of the Company’s investment in Portfolio Companies was denominated in Jamaican dollars. For the period ending December 31, 2017, appreciation of the Jamaican dollar versus the US dollar resulted in Net Foreign Exchange Gains of US$247,705, this gain which flows through the income statement, may be reversed in future periods, and may affect Net Profit.
The Company currently has a robust pipeline of US$31.4 million in deals to finance, of which US$3.2 million has been approved, US$12.3 million has been mandated and US$15.9 million are at various stages of prospecting.

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