Shares in Spur Tree Spices started trading this morning at $1.30, with a mere 3 shares changing hands as the newly listed Junior Market stock attracts huge demand, with 389 bids posted ahead of the market’s opening, ranging from $1 to a high of $1.30, with demand totaling 6.46 million units at $1.30.
An indication of demand to buy below $1.30, is as follows; 527,000 units at $1.29, a total of 3.9 million shares at $1.25 and 3.6 million at $1.20. Sell orders start at $1.50 with 12,500 followed 1,500 units at $1.70, 26,000 at $1.80 56000 at $1.99 and 107,000 at $2 with other reasonable offers going up $3.20.
Under the stock exchange rules, trading in the stock is now frozen until 10.30 this morning and cannot trade at a higher price than $1.30 today. Following the reopening of the stocks for trading, after trading was frozen, bids have come in for more than 36 million units at $1.32, over 23 million at $1.31 and 38.46 million at $1.30.
The movement in the stock helped push the Junior Market Index over the 3,500 mark for the first time since early October 2019.
30% gain for Spur Tree Spices
Spur Tree Spices lists on Friday on the JSE
Shares of Spur Tree Spices will list on Friday on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange following the successful Initial Public Offering said to have attracted applications from more than 5,000 investors and raised $335.4 million before expenses for the company.
The company indicated that the issue attracted $1.3 billion and was 6 times oversubscribed. Proceeds will be used to pay listing expenses, with the remainder to be used for the repayment of debts of $170 million and to facilitate business expansion.
The listing, the second such listing on the Junior Market since the start of 2021 will bring the total stocks on the exchange to 42. A few others are expected to follow in short order as new offerings are made to the public early in 2022.
Earnings per share for Spur Tree should end the year at 11.5 cents before taxation at a PE of 8.7 times earnings, below the market average of 14.4 currently, with a high degree of oversubscription, the PE ratio will jump on Friday and into next week. IC Insider.com projects 18.5 cents earning for 2022 from a profit of $300 million at a PE of 5.4 times 2022 profit.
12% allotment for Spur Tree shares
The staff at Spur Tree Spices lost a golden opportunity to make money from the company they worked for leaving a portion of the 10 million shares on the table for others to take up at a very low price that will likely double in rice sooner than later.
GK Capital Management released to the public the basis of allotment of the successful Spur Tree Spices Initial Public Offer of 335.4 million shares on Thursday.
Applicants in the staff key partner reserve pools will receive 100 percent of their application with the balance of the shares in these pools that were not applied for will become available for the General Public Pool Applicants, who will receive up to the first 10,000 shares plus a pro-rata allocation of approximately 11.76 percent of the excess shares for which they applied.
The prospectus indicated that allocation and refunds will take place within ten days of closing and trading in the shares no more than five business days after the Jamaica Stock Exchange approves the admission of shares to the Junior Market.
“It is the intention of the Company to apply to the JSE for admission of the Ordinary Shares to the Junior Market and to make such application immediately following the closing of the Invitation,” the prospectus stated.
15% likely allocation for Spur Tree shares
The last initial public of shares in Jamaica for 2021 went off with a bang and preliminary data show that the issue attracted $1.3 billion for the Spur Tree Spices Jamaica’s offer of 335,391,848 ordinary shares at $1 each, with 180 million units offered to the general public it means that the average take will be just over 15 percent.
With 155 million reserved shares fully taken up, the 180 million units available to the public was oversubscribed by more than five and a half times, which would result in each applicant getting around 15 percent of what they applied for based on a proportional level of allocation of the shares offered to the general public. The Company reserves the right to allot shares to applicants on a basis to be determined by it in its sole discretion, including on a pro-rata basis.
Proceeds will be used to pay listing expenses, with the remainder to be used for the repayment of debts of $170 million and to facilitate business expansion.
Revenue in 2020, grew 22 percent over the prior year to $701 million and at a compounded annual growth rate of 25 percent from $290 million in 2016.
Profit before tax in 2020 rose 52 percent to $82 million, from $54 million in the prior year. Results to September 2021 show a profit of $116 million from revenues of $834 million suggesting that the full year should see a pretax profit of $155 million. Gross cash flow amounts to $115 million for 2020 up from $57 in 2019.
The company recently completed the purchase of Exotic Products Jamaica that processes and cans ackees. “Ackee is a highly demanded strategic product in our export markets and the Company plans to rationalize the operations of this newly acquired entity to double production over the next two years. This, combined with our plans to expand and grow the current Spur Tree product range, while expanding current markets both locally and overseas and accessing new markets should significantly improve our sales and profit performance in the coming years”, the company stated.
Total equity capital will rise to around $600 million from $275 million at the end so September. Current assets amounted to $357 million and current liabilities at $221 million and cash on hand of $56 million.
Earnings per share should end the year at 11.5 cents before taxation and puts the PE at an attractive 8.7 times earnings and below the market average of 14.4 currently. IC Insider.com projects 18.5 cents earning for 2022 from a profit of $300 million at a PE of 5.4 times 2022 profit, on this basis, investors who wanted more shares in the public offer could reasonably buy the stock up to the $2 level, with the expectation of a bright future for the company.
IC Buy Rated Spur Tree IPO a big buy
Spur Tree Spices Jamaica’s prospectus for its Initial Public of 335,391,848 ordinary shares at $1 each is now released to the public for subscription with the opening date of December 29, with just about 180 million units available for subscription by the general public.
Overall 335 million shares are being sold in the offer but 135 million are reserved. Proceeds will be used to pay the Invitation and listing expenses and the remainder to go to the Company to be used for the repayment of debts and to facilitate business expansion. The total Invitation and Listing Expenses should not exceed $25 million. The total debt to be repaid from the proceeds raised is $169 million, broken down as a payment of $157 million to GK Investments and $12.5 million to reduce Directors’ Loans.
Shares will be issued on a first come basis. If the Invitation is oversubscribed, the Company reserves the right to allot shares to applicants on a basis to be determined by it in its sole discretion, including on a pro rata basis. In the event the Invitation is oversubscribed, the Company in consultation with the arranger and lead broker reserves the right to make adjustments to the basis of allocation to ensure fair and equitable allocation.
The company is in operation for 15 years in Jamaica and operates out of a 20,000 square feet manufacturing facility at Garmex, on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston. The company specialises in production, distribution and the sale of Jamaican seasonings and sauces, for retail and foodservice markets.
Revenue grew 22 percent over the prior year to $701 million and at a compounded annual growth rate of 25 percent from $290 million in 2016. The increase in 2020 came from improved product placement and the expansion to new markets, with approximately 95 percent from the export markets the company stated.
The gross profit margin improved from 25.1 percent in 2019 to 26.7 percent in 2020. For the nine months to September, this year’s gross profit margin ended at 28.8 percent. During the 2016 to 2020 period, gross profit margin exceeded 25 percent, with a range of 25 to 38 percent.
Profit before tax rose 52 percent to $82 million, from $54 million in the prior year. In each of the 5 years under review, the Company increased its profit before tax each year from $21 million in 2016 to $82 million in 2020, a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 40 percent.
Results to September 2021 show a profit of $116 million from revenues of $834 million suggesting that the full year should see a pretax profit of $155 million. Gross cash flow amounts to $115 million for 2020 up from $57 in 2019.
Return on average equity at the end of the 2020 financial year was a rich 47 percent after tax and seem set to rise in 2021.
The company’s products are available in Jamaica, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Cayman Island, Costa Rica and Australia through several distributor outlets. While the Company is active in the local market through its various distribution channels, its major focus from inception has been and continues to be the export market. There are more Jamaicans, and persons of Jamaican descent, residing outside the country, who value that special connection with home whether through music, food, or other forms of cultural authenticity.
“Our export sales and marketing strategies are geared to satisfying the needs of the Jamaican diaspora who now make up our largest customer base. However, in recent years, there has been an expansion of the demand for Spur Tree products in the overseas space to include non Jamaicans of all different races and ethnicities seeking an authentic Caribbean food experience. Our products are sold in supermarket chains such as Shoprite, Food Bazaar, Food World, Western Beef, Presidente and Extra among others in the United States, as well as in the largest foodservice cash and carry store in the United States, Restaurant Depot/Jetro. Our products are also prominently showcased in major chains in Canada such as Loblaw’s and Sobeys,” the company stated in the prospectus.
“Spur Tree recently completed the purchase of Exotic Products Jamaica (Succs.) Limited (“Exotic”), an ackee factory in St. Thomas. Ackee is a highly demanded strategic product in our export markets and the Company plans to rationalize the operations of this newly acquired entity to double production over the next two years. This, combined with our plans to expand and grow the current Spur Tree product range, while expanding current markets both locally and overseas and accessing new markets should significantly improve our sales and profit performance in the coming years”, the company stated.
Issued shares at the date of this Prospectus total 1,341,567,396 and after the IPO the issued shares should climb to 1,676,959,244 and the total equity capital will rise to around $600 million from $275 million at the end of September. Current assets amounted to $357 million and current liabilities at $221 million and cash on hand of $56 million.
Earnings per share should end the year at 11.5 cents before taxation and puts the PE at an attractive 8.7 times earnings and below the market average of 14.4 currently. IC Insider.com projects 18.5 cents earning for 2022 from a profit of $300 million at a PE of 5.4 times 2022 profit, which means lost of profitable trades are baked in barring any major negative development.
IPO gifts for Christmas and early New Year
The current year 2021 has not been a bumper one for initial public offerings in Jamaica, all of that could change as Santa has one or two gifts on his sleigh to deliver either a few days before Christmas or just after.
Word on the street is that investors should save some of the money earmarked for Christmas gifts and prepare for two Initial Public offerings that could hit the road ahead of Christmas and just ahead of the New Year.
The year is closing fast saw one outstanding offer returning a bid payoff for investors as the Junior Market listed Future Energy Source there were a few in the Main market but they failed to generate any excitement for investors.
ICInsider.com previously reported that the initial public offer of shares in Jamaica Fibreglass Products is expected to come to the Jamaican capital market in October, our source advises, with Spur Tree Spices to come shortly after. We said then that, “Jamaica Fibreglass Products produces fiberglass-based furniture and beddings, with revenues said to be in the region of $600 million, is expected to raise approximately $250 million for expansion purposes. The prospectus of the Metry Seaga-owned company is said to be at an advanced stage of preparation and should be moving through the various stages for approval soon.”
“Spur Tree Spices, with revenues, said to be just over $1 billion, should also be coming in October, if all goes well, intending to pull in $250 million. GK Capital are brokers of the two issues that are slated to list on the Junior Market.”
Various issues seem to have delayed both of the above but the various issue may have been dealt with and the runway is said to be cleared for flights to take off sooner than later.
These two are not the only ones coming. Word is that Mayberry Investments has a few potential IPOs with one or two at advanced stages of readiness to hit the market in 2022. IC Insider.com gathers that one is an IPO to raise around $200 million in the educational line of business and one is for an existing listed company for a fresh capital raise. There are some regulatory issues regarding the structure of reserve shares for the initial public issue, with the FSC is now proposing that the vast majority of an issue must be made to the general public, thus severely limiting the percentage that can be kept for select clients. It is a move intended to squelch the many concerns of investors of being shut out of getting reasonable amounts of issues.
In October this year, the social learning portal Edufocal disclosed that they signed an agreement to engage Mayberry Investments in a move to raise capital. ICInsider.com gathers that the effort will likely bear fruit early in the New Year. The government of Jamaica’s intention to divest their 20 percent holding in JPS is at a fairly advanced stage and could be early in 2022, but that investment could be fraught with potential dynamite for small investors.
Keep watch, they all could be closer than you think.
Sygnus Real Estate Finance comes up short
Property in Mamee Bay, St Ann that Sygnus has an interest in.
The Initial Public Offering Sygnus Real Estate Finance that closed on September 10 came up short of the initial target, with just 1,153 applicants applying for the 207,608,341 shares offered by the company to raise $3.9 billion at $19.30 per share.
While the uptake was well below the minimum target it nevertheless, the offer still raised a respectable sum amounting to approximately $2.3 billion. The new capital adds to the $3.6 billion in shareholders’ equity at the end of February this year moving it to just under $6 billion and total assets of $8 billion.
The company is a real estate investment company with the primary objective of bringing flexible financing to monetise and unlock value in real estate assets across the Caribbean region. The type of instruments used to invest in real estate assets include preference shares, bridge financing, profit sharing debt, secured debt, mezzanine debt, and various forms of equity investments.
New IPOS expected in October
The initial public offer of shares in Jamaica Fibreglass Products is expected to come to the Jamaican Capital market in October, our source advises, with Spur Tree Spices to come shortly after.
The company produces fiberglass based furniture and beddings, with revenues said to be in the region of $600 million, is expected to raise approximately $250 million for expansion purposes. The prospectus of the Metry Seaga owned company is said to be at an advanced stage of preparation and should be moving through the various stages for approval soon.
Spur Tree Spices, with revenues, said to be just over $1 billion, should also be coming in October, if all goes well, with a view to pull in $250 million. GK Capital are brokers of the two issues that are slated to list on the Junior Market. The prospectus of the company that has been manufacturing seasonings and sauces since 2006 for the local and export markets is also at an advanced stage of readiness, ICInsider.com gathers.
ICInsider.com is informed that the prospectus for one issue is in a draft form currently, so it should be ready to move to the regulators shortly. IPOS are subject to approval, primarily by the Jamaica Stock Exchange and Financial Securities Commission, before the prospectus can be released to the public as such, the exact timing is subject to signing off by them.
One source advised IC Insider.com that there are several potential listing candidates in the Manufacturing sector, with a number of them expressing interest in the listing. Another source advises that there are a number of potential listings in the NCB Capital Markets pipeline. The disruption to business caused by covid-19 is creating delays in some of the issues.
What appears to be a rush to list is a marked departure from the situation that existed before the advent of the Junior Market, with many business owners now seeing the major benefits that listings bring and the usefulness of long term capital.
In the meantime, Sygnus Real Estate Finance IPO that is seeking to sell 207.6 million up sizeable by 38.86 million units to raise a maximum of US$15 million, is extended to Friday, September 10.
Barita APO to be priced at $80
Barita Investments‘ directors have approved the issue of 125 million ordinary shares at $80 each, with an option to upsize the amount issued by 62.5 million shares to raise $15 billion in an additional public issue (APO).
The New Ordinary Shares will be reserved for the benefit of certain specified investors in amounts determined at the discretion of the Company. The APO should open on September 3, or such other date as determined by the Group Chief Executive Officer and is to close on September 21, or such other date as determined by the Group Chief Executive Officers.
The original notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange stipulated the issue of up to 160 million units that could have been upsized 80 million shares. Since the first notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, on August 5, the stock price moved up from the low $83.90 to $92.77, with the proposed price being a discount of nearly 14 percent.
The company reported nine months results to June, with profit after tax for the June quarter coming in at $1.6 billion, up a strong 62 percent from $990 million reported in 2020 June quarter and ended the quarter, with earnings per share of $1.48 versus $1.21 in 2020. Earnings for the nine months ended at $3.38 per share from after tax profit of $3.67 billion, up 82 percent from $2 billion in 2020.
Q3 profit bolts 62% at Barita
Fresh from recommending the issue of new shares to their shareholders, the directors of Investment bankers, Barita Investments, approved the payment of an interim dividend of $3.029 per stock unit to be done on October 7, to shareholders as of September 23, 2021, to cost $3.29 billion.
The company also reported nine months results to June, with profit after tax for the June quarter coming in at $1.6 billion, up a strong 62 percent from $990 million reported in 2020 June quarter and ended the quarter, with earnings per share of $1.48 versus $1.21 in 2020. Earnings for the nine months ended at $3.38 per share from after tax profit of $3.67 billion, up 82 percent from $2 billion in 2020.
Barita eyeing acquisition.
Revenues net of interest expenses rose an impressive 75 percent in the quarter, to $2.64 billion from $1.5 billion and spiked 77 percent from $3.78 billion to $6.69 billion. Fees and commission income generated half of the revenues for the quarter in contributing $1.34 billion and $2.7 billion in the year to date period accounting for 41 percent of net revenues. Foreign exchange gains brought in $647 million in the quarter versus $321 million in 2020 and $1.78 billion year to date versus just $428 million in 2020. The above two areas are the fastest growing for the current fiscal year. Gain on investment activities is down in the quarter, from $257 million to $214 million and down from $1.1 billion in the nine months last year to $1 billion in 2021.
Expenses for the quarter surged 178 percent from $345 million in 2020 to $959 million and jumped 87 from $1.3 billion for the nine months to $2.43 billion. The latest results suggest that earnings per share for the full year could come close to $4.50, of course, with investment banking institutions, they could pick up or drop revenues in many different areas.
Shareholders approved the directors to issue 160 million shares to the public, its fourth capital raising foray since the majority shares in the company was acquired by Cornerstone United Holdings, but the issue may be upsized to as much as 240 million shares.
The shares to be issued may be upsized to a maximum of 80 million additional units if the invitation is oversubscribed. If all 240 million shares are taken up, the company could raise as much as $18 billion in fresh capital, ICInsider.com estimates on the basis that there will not be a steep discount to the price the stock has been mostly traded at up to last week.
Shareholders at Barita Investments AGM.
The pricing and date of the issue are to be determined by the directors, but the offer document seems to be with the Financial Services Commission awaiting signing off of the issue. The last APO was done in August of 2020, the offer document was dated July 30, at which time the JSE closing price was $57.93, with the last traded price of $54, the offer was set at $52 for the general public and existing shareholders. With the stock trading around $82 recently, the price for the new APO could be around $75 to $80. The company could offer existing shareholders a much steeper discount as they did back in 2019, in which case the total take would be less.
Barita Investments is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has total assets of $84 billion, up from $49 billion a year ago, with Shareholders’ equity of $30.3 billion in June 2021. The company has $2 billion invested in Derrimon Trading, shown as Investment in Associated Company on Barita’s balance sheet. Derrimon contributed $42 million to profit in the quarter.
On Monday, the shares closed trading at $90.24 after jumping $7.24 and boast a PE of 20 times this year’s earnings.
