Q3 profit bolts 62% at Barita

August 17, 2021 by

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.

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

Barita to issue 160 million shares in APO

August 5, 2021 by

Investment banking house Barita Investments is set to issue 160 million shares to the public in its fourth capital raising foray since Cornerstone United Holdings acquired majority shares in the company. The issue may be upsized and, if so, could raise as much as $19 billion in fresh capital, ICInsider.com estimates.

Barita head quarters

Shareholders of Barita Investments recently approved a resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting to issue up to 160 million ordinary shares or such greater amount as the Directors in their absolute discretion may approve as part of the unissued authorised capital of the company to raise additional capital for the Company.
The general public will be invited to subscribe for New Ordinary Shares on such terms and conditions as the Directors may consider expedient in their absolute discretion. The shares to be issued may be upsized to a maximum of 80 million additional shares in the event that the invitation is oversubscribed.
The price band date of the issue is to be determined by the directors. The last APO that done in August of 2020, with the offer document, dated July 30, at which time the JSE closing price was $57.93, but the last traded price was $54, the offer was set at $52 for the general public and existing shareholders. With the stock trading around $84 currently, the price for the new APO could be around $80.
Barita Investments is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has total assets of $79 billion, up from $49 billion at the end of the year ago period, with Shareholders’ equity of $28.7 billion in March 2021. When Cornerstone acquired the majority shares, total assets were just $17 billion and a mere $3 billion shareholders’ equity.

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

IPOs coming in your future

June 23, 2021 by

Jamaica Stock Exchange investors should be seeing a new IPO coming to the market sometime in July, subject to regulatory approval, with Sygnus Real Estate Finance getting ready to blast out of the box reports reaching this publication indicate.
The company, which is said to be dedicated to investing in and funding real estate developments through a combination of debt capital as well as equity capital, has projects on its books already, with developments in St Ann, St Catherine and Kingston, which the principals expect to extract extra value by way of creative acquisition and disposal. The company strategy is to fund new developments through real estate notes secured by a charge over the properties.
The company, which will be separate from Sygnus Credit Investments, could benefit from funding from them and is expected to raise $3 to $4 billion in the region. The company is coming to the market at a time of unprecedented construction of buildings in the country. Reports reaching ICInsider.com indicate strong buying interests locally and from overseas in townhouses and detached units in the country’s hills, and many see Jamaican real estate as cheap.
Also coming around July is Jamaica Fibreglass Products that produces furniture and bedding, to raise approximately $230 million for expansion purposes and Spur Tree Spices may make it towards the end of the year to pull in around $250 million. The company says it has been manufacturing all in one seasoning and sauces since 2006 for the local and export markets.
There has also been chatter in the marketplace that Jamaican Teas may consider a spin-off of its manufacturing arm into a separately listed company.

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

High level of allocation for Fesco shares

April 13, 2021 by
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Subscribers will get over 43 percent of the shares they applied for in the IPO of Future Energy Source, this will be one of the highest allocations in recent years for an IPO, but it may suggest a limited upside for the price initially.
Applicants in the General Public Pool receives 1,000 shares plus aroud 43.876 percent of the excess for they applied. The Brokers for the issue states that “multiple applications from the same JCSD account for each pool were combined and treated as one application for the purposes of allocation.
NCB Capital Markets receives its full allotment of 100 million shares. NCB Insurance Agency & Fund Managers Limited gets the full allotment of 16.245 million shares. The balance of shares in the Broker Reserve Pool of 58.755 million, which were not taken up, is transferred to the General Public Pool.
Key Partner Reserve Pool applicants will receive up to the first 250,000 shares plus approximately 80.195 percent of the balance applied for.
Applicants in the Employee Reserve Pool receives the first 50,000 shares plus approximately 72.32 percent of the rest.
Refunds for Applicants who did not receive allotment fully will commence April 14, 2021, NCB Capital Markets states.

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

Oversubscribed

April 3, 2021 by

Future Energy Source Company Initial Public Offer of 500 million shares, which ICInsider.com indicated last week should be snapped up quickly by investors, with the company having long-term prospects for strong growth, did just that, with investors snapping the shares within two days of the opening.
NCB Capital Markets, the brokers for the issue, reported on Thursday that the issue, priced at 80 cents per share and opened on Wednesday, closed on Thursday the Junior Market IPO issue was oversubscribed. The successful closure of the issue will see the listings of companies rising to 42 from the current 41 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
The company that trades as Fesco reports earnings of $92 million before taxation for the period to December last year from revenues of $4.35 billion and is projecting pretax profit of $151 million for the year to March 2021 and $264 million for the 2022 fiscal year. The plant is for two new gas stations to be added to the current 14 before the end of 2021.

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

Fosrich APO coming

March 29, 2021 by

FosRich, a distributor of lighting, electrical and solar energy products and a Junior Market listed company, seems set to go back to the capital market to raise funds for expansion and reduce loan funding.
“We are currently examining a possible additional Public Offer (APO) in 2021,”  managing director Cecil Foster stated in response to ICInsider.com enquiry as to why would they not take advantage of favourable market conditions currently to reduce the high debt load.
Fosrich borrowed debt totalling $1.6 billion is more than twice the Shareholders’ equity of $869 million at the end of December last year. The company has lent nearly $400 million to a related party that should be repaid this year, with the proceeds expected to reduce the debt load. Even after that, the company will still be overleveraged and will need approximately $500 million in new equity to bring its financing to accepted levels. Any new issue seems unlikely until the last quarter of 2021, with the company annual general meeting that will likely be held in August, as was the case in 2020 that would most likely approve such an issue. Additionally, with the stock now price over $5, a stock split would likely be considered to be approved at the 2021 AGM.
The company had a successful 2020 financial year with increased profits from rising sales and the stock price rising 31 percent so far in 2021.

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

Fesco IPO opens next week

March 24, 2021 by

Future Energy Source Company (Fesco) initial public offer of shares will open at 9 am on Wednesday, March 31 and close on April 9, at 4 PM, unless it closes earlier.
The issue comprises 300 million new shares with 200 million to be sold by existing shareholders at 80 cents each. If successful, the total issued shares will be 2.5 billion, with the shares slated to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market.
The projection shows a profit of $151 before taxes for the year ended March 2021 from revenues of $7 billion and earnings per share of 7 cents. The company forecast revenues of $106 billion and a profit of $264 million or 10.5 cents per share for 2022.
ICInsider.com had earlier done a detailed review of the offer and rated it a buy with long term growth prospects as there is much room for expansion as it currently has only 14 service stations under its banner. NCB Capital Markets is the lead broker.

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

Earnings projections wanted for all IPOs

February 21, 2021 by

FESCO may have computed the projection of income and profit to 2025 incorrectly by overstating some expenses but they are on the right track and must be commended for including the forecast in their prospectus, a very useful addition.
This publication has been rightly calling for all prospectuses to include forecasts of income and profits for three years at a minimum, but prior to the FESCO issue only new companies have been doing so. The lack of forecast is a disservice to the investing public.
The Alliance Financial Services prospectus released to the public in December does not contain any forecast of revenues and profit so was the case for Tropical Battery in late 2020 as such, FESCO decision to include a forecast maybe just a voluntary exercise rather than a standard for the industry that investors can look forward to.
Management who are responsible for the contents of prospectuses has much more information about a company’s future than the investing public. Since markets depend on good and timely information to thrive, the lack of forecast in all prospectuses is a disservice to the capital market and investors. To ask new starts up companies to provide a forecast of the future and not more mature companies who are in a better position to do so defiles logic.
Stockbrokers taking companies public should help to raise the standard by putting forecast in all prospectuses for the benefit of the market development and the Jamaica Stock Exchange should insist on it and so raise the standard of information going to the public.

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

FESCO worth a buy-in

February 20, 2021 by

Investors need to separate investments that can make them money from a great investment to hold long term. It is against this background that the latest IPO should be viewed.
Future Energy Source Company Limited (Fesco) initial public offer is set to open on February 25, with 500 million shares for sale at 80 cents each, with 200 million units being sold by existing shareholders.
Of the total, 325 million units are reserved for priority applicants and 175 million for the wider public to list on the Junior Market. The shares are not a great investment on the surface, but an opportunity exists to profit from an investment in the short to medium term. If all the shares offered for sale are subscribed to, the number of issued shares will rise to 2.5 billion units and the company will collect $240 million before expenses for the portion offered by them.
Proceeds from the company’s subscription of shares will support the growth of the existing businesses and allow the company to pursue strategic investment opportunities and pay the expenses of the issue.
The company was incorporated in February 2013 and made the first fuel sale in November of that year. In 2014, the first FESCO branded service station was unveiled in Mandeville and have grown to fourteen branded Service Stations. Two additional service stations, are to be opened this year, one at Ferry on Mandela Highway by April and the second at Beechwood Avenue, St. Andrew in June.
”Our current market share for transportation fuel is approximately 4.65 percent (April 2020- September 2020) and is expected to increase to 5.3 percent by March 2021 and 7 percent by December 2021. We estimate that FESCO’s market share reflects three (3) main facts: a) we are a relatively new company (operating for just over six (6) years) whose initial strategy has been to grow organically rather than through acquisitions; b) as at September 2020, we have very little presence in the Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) fuel market. Our KSA offerings are limited to FESCO Stony Hill and FESCO Rock Hall, both of which are in the more rural parts of St. Andrew; and c) the dominance of the multinational brands in the industrial and commercial space where they provide fuels to private clients”, the prospectus states.
”FESCO’s current market share of transportation fuels at September 2020 is 4.65 percent up from 3.8 percent in 2019 and 3.5 percent in 2018 and it estimates that its market share will increase to 5.3 percent by March 2021 and 7 percent by December 2021”, the prospectus further stated.
FESCO’s sales significantly outstripped the 2019 performance in litres sold. In fact, FESCO’s April through September 2020 sales in litres of transportation fuels sold is 6.6 percent ahead of its performance for the same period in 2019 despite the impact of COVID-19 and the overall market declining 13.9 percent.
FESCO is yet to enter the commercial or retail LPG market estimated at 13,957,716 or between J$1.5 billion to $1.9 billion monthly.
Revenues increased from $3.754 billion in 2016 to $5.94 billion in 2020 representing a compounded average growth (CAGR) of 12.1 percent.  Over the period, gross profits increased from $28.2 million to $178.3 million, with a CAGR of 58.6 percent. FESCO increased its gross profit margin to its dealers as its brands became more recognized and demanded by customers from 0.75 percent in 2016 to 3 percent in 2020.
From the 2015 financial year through to the 2020 financial year, average monthly volumes increased from 2,502 million litres to 3,743 million litres, a CAGR of 8.4 percent. Pre-tax profits increased by J$87 million or 172 percent to $137 million in 2020 up from $50 million in 2019.
Revenues over the period April 2020 to September 2020 was $2.811 billion down 5.84 percent from the comparative period of September 2019, a decline of $175 million from 2019 turnover of $2.99 billion. Profit before taxes for the period to September 2020 was $65 million, similar to that earned in 2019. The projection for revenues to March this year is $6 billion, with profit of $151 million for earnings per share before tax of 7 cents and a price earnings ratio of 11.4 that compares well to Tropical Battery that listed in January and now has a PE of 14.6. ICInsider.com forecasts 13 cents per share to March 2022 with the PE at 6 and the price rising to $2.50 by then.  The prospectus was withdrawn due to projections to 2025 that appears to overstate the forecasted administrative costs by approximately $100 million per annum.
The company’s financial status strong with Shareholders’ equity at the end of September at $255 million, borrowings amount to just $63 million and cash on hand of $99 million.
First, the negatives. If the company succeeds with the IPO, it will have the largest board of directors of any Junior Market company, with 11 members. That is a great sign of management weakness. Grace Kennedy and NCB Financial have nine directors, while Scotia Group has 11. Those are vastly bigger and more complex entities that FESCO. The company relies solely on distributors for revenues in a sector that has been subject to industrial disputes from time to time and government regulations. Gross profit margin is primarily subject to worldwide price fluctuation in global petroleum prices.
On a positive note, the downturn in demand for petrol seems to be easing and should help boost revenues in the immediate period ahead. This year’s opening of two new service stations will help grow revenues by ten to twenty percent in a full year. One of the new stations will be owned and operated by the company. The company is relatively small, commanding less than 10 percent of the market, leaving much room for above-average growth with good scope for gain in market share. Additional, with the local economy poised to grow that, should aid growth as well.

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

Investors gobble up new issues

February 4, 2021 by

The Jamaican economic and financial environment has undergone much change over the past five decades or so. Since the early 1970s, the country lost its way and endured years of negative economic and in cases social development.
The evidence can be seen in an exchange rate that was US$1.10 to the Jamaican dollar to nearly $150 to one US dollar now. Interest rates rose from 5.5 percent in 1970 for governments Local Registered Stock, by the dark years in 1990s rates on government paper were as high as 52 percent in 1994. The average Treasury bill rates, between 1992 and 1994 was 39.5 percent. That was the challenge that the banks and businesses face in that period that led to the collapse of the businesses and the destruction of the financial sector.
The above set the stage for the state of the capital market in Jamaica now. In 1986, National Commercial Bank as it was then named went to the market, with the issue pulling in $249 million or US$45 million and attracted over 30,000 shareholders in a heavily oversubscribed issue. The total amount attracted seems to be the largest public issue ever in the local market.
That was then, now interest rates have hit levels that are the lowest on record, with Treasury bill rates now less than one percent and there are now more than 200,000 investors owning shares compared to around 40,000 after the NCB issue, making for a larger pool of investors to draw on to take up new issues.
Three companies went to the market to raise funds in January and all were successful with the latest Derrimon Trading Company invitation for subscription of 1,498,698,931 Ordinary Shares with the option to upsize was oversubscribed with taking up an additional 301,301,069 shares. The company will issue 1.8 million  Shares and take in J$4.08 billion in gross proceeds.
The allocation of the issue will result in existing shareholders and Derrimon team members receiving 51.63 percent of their application. Key Investors will get all of their applications, Lead Broker’s Clients 83.72 percent and Non-Reserved Share Applicants (General Public) 39.15 percent.
Proven Investments upsized of the Additional Public Offer (APO) of ordinary shares to a maximum of 134,124,037 units with applications totalling 154,231,234 shares, for an oversubscription of US$4.3 million. Proven states that 4,148 applications were received, totalling just over US$34.5 million.
Applicants in General Pool and existing shareholders applicants in the pool will receive a full allotment, but Key Investors Applicants in this pool will receive 70.75 of the subscription amount.
Sygnus Credit Investments APO of ordinary shares was upsized to 240,887,900 Shares, reflecting a 54 percent upsize to the maximum allowed. The issue pulled around US31 million for the company.

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