Big gains for 2016 IPOS

June 26, 2017 by

I$P Finance is up 1,100% since listing in March 2016 but hit an all time high of $35 earlier this year to be up 1,650% at that time.

Initial Public listings have been very popular in the Jamaican stock market. Most of them enjoyed strong gains within a few years of issue.
Investors have bought heavily into most of the issues resulting in most closing on the first day of the issue.
No doubt investors will be avidly awaiting issues to come in the second half of this year. Expecting this week is Productivity Business Solution IPO should be available of subscription in the first week of July and Express Catering should be coming pretty soon as well.
A series of others should be following later in 2017 and in 2018 with Stationery and Supplies expected to follow shortly after the above two, as they iron out a few issues before coming to market, while UCC Online still has issues to resolve. Others that have been recently mentioned publicly and a few that have not yet made public statements, should add to the excitement when they do make it and swell the choices available in the market for ongoing investment.
How have recent IPOS done since listing? Stocks sold to the publish and listed since the start of 2016 had mixed fortunes, with startup entities delivering little gains with one trading lower than the IPO price but four have gained 200 percent or more including one with more than 1,000 percent, one rising 64 percent and one with 34 percent, up to last Friday.
Little known micro finance company, ISP Finance gained a stunning 1,100 percent, since listing in March 2016. Pre-owned car dealer, Jetcon Corporation is up with gains of 687 percent since March last year with information technology, company tTech coming in with gains of 220 percent.
Portland JSX Fund lost 18 percent, while start up general insurance company, Iron Rock is up just 7 percent. All stocks traded at higher prices than the closing ones on Friday.

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

Express Catering heading for Junior Market

June 8, 2017 by

2017 is set to be the year with the most listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange even as just four listings have made it to the market so far in 2017. At the end of 2016, eighteen new listings were expected based on feedback the stock exchange obtained from brokers and companies expressing an interest in listing.
Express Catering a company operating in the Montego Airport is being brokered by Mayberry Investments in a bid to raise funds for existing shareholders. The company shares are expected to be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Existing shareholders plan to sell between 20 to 40 percent of the company to raise around $400 to $500 million at a price range between $1 and $2.50 per share, our source informs IC Insider.com.
The company would be valued around $1 billion and using a PE of 10 times earnings would put the profit at around $100 million. The bulk of passengers passing through the Montego Bay airport are tourist, with the continued increase in hotel rooms passenger traffic will keep growing for some time and provide the company with increased opportunity for growth.
Not much more has so far been disclosed, but an indication of the company’s size can be gleaned from the fact that Montego Bay Airport Ltd generated revenue from Express Catering for rental and commission on food and beverages sales of U$$2.7 million in for 2016, an increase from US$2.5 million in 2015.
In April this year The Gleaner reported that the company has annual revenues at US$14 million from being an exclusive provider of food and beverage products in the post-security lounge of the Sangster International Airport. The company has a diverse group of proprietary brands and international franchises to include such brands as Quiznos Subs and Salads, Aunt Annie’s Pretzels, Nathans Famous Hot Dogs, Cinnabon, Moe’s South Western Grill, Wendy’s, Dominos and Dairy Queen.
Elsewhere, the Musson’s subsidiary, Productive Business Solutions prospectus is said to be at the FSC for vetting, from about three weeks ago and should be close to being released to the public. Productive Business Solutions operates in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA and will come to the market with a US$41 million offer of ordinary shares. Stationery and Supplies Limited is also expected to be coming to the market anytime now.

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

Cable Bahamas list on JSE Friday

May 31, 2017 by

This Friday June 2, will see the latest listing of a new company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The Bahamian based Cable Bahamas will see its shares available for trading on the local exchange for the first time.
Earlier this month the exchange approved the listing of the company’s shares. Information available to IC Insider.com is that the list will be on the US dollar exchange and will comprise ordinary and preference shares.
According to the company’s financials there are 43,884,754 ordinary shares and 8 different category of preference shares issued. The net asset value of the ordinary shares are around BH$2 each but the stock trades in the Bahamas at BH$4.05, with 1,000 units trading. Selling by investors is at $4.40 and above with buying interest at $4.05 and below. The 52 weeks high is $6.76 on June 9, 2016 and a low of $3.80, on the 9th of February, this year.
Revenue earned for the 2016 December quarter, was BH$47.887 million compared to BH$41.730 million and for the year to December BH$180.588 versus BH$165.678. The company reported losses of BH$9.2 million in the December quarter inclusive of a fixed asset write off of BH$5.8 million and $7.8 million for the year. Total shareholders’ equity stood at BH$91 million at the end of December 2016 and losses incurred in the March 2017 quarter of BH$7 million pushed shareholders’ equity down to BH$84 million at the end of March this year. Revenues in the March 2017 quarter rose 17 percent to $51 million up from $43.7 million in 2016 but operating cost jumped even faster by 60 percent to $46.6 million from $29 million with depreciation and amortization rising from $9 million to $16.8 million.
Two other listing should be heading to the market within weeks as Stationery and Supplies and the Musson subsidiary Productive Business Solutions with operations in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA come to the market with a US$41 million offer of ordinary shares.

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

Bahamian company to list soon

May 25, 2017 by

Cable Bahamas is set to be the next company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The exchange approved the listing a short time ago. Information available to IC Insider.com is that the list will be on the US dollar exchange and will comprise ordinary and preference shares.
According to the company’s financials there are 43,884,754 ordinary shares and 8 different category of preference shares issued. The net asset value of the ordinary shares are around BH$2 each.
The company has been providing cable TV services in The Bahamas since March 1995 and Internet services since March 2000. On June 30, 1995, the company completed a $30 million public equity issue, resulting in 3,000 Bahamian shareholders holding shares in the company. In its first full year of operations, revenue was $12 million and net income $2.5 million and the year-end subscriber count was 37,400.
By the end of 2000, the share price stood at $8.50 with a cumulative growth of over 750%, total subscribers were 51,609 and net income was $7.3 million. Two significant growth areas for the company are its high-speed Internet services and its wholly owned submarine 600 km fiber-optic cable system, which is operated by its subsidiary, Caribbean Crossings Ltd.
Late 2010, Cable Bahamas purchased System Resource Group (SRG) to enable the company to introduce new services and lower prices to the consumer. This union allows the company to become the Bahamas’ 100 percent Bahamian-owned public converged communications services provider offering voice, broadband data and video products.
With the introduction of REVOICE, a cutting-edge home phone service, Cable Bahamas became a triple-play provider in the Bahamas, offering TV, Internet and phone services at bundled prices.
The network comprises 14 free-to-air broadcast systems on 11 islands, eight stand-alone cable TV systems, and four triple play systems networked by a submarine fibre. Together, this network services 99 per cent of the Bahamian population. The company’s submarine fibre continues into the United States, connecting to a terrestrial fibre in South Florida, creating a terrestrial fibre ring around the state, and providing triple play services to four additional systems. These combined networks make up the complete Cable Bahamas network.
Revenue earned for the 2016 December quarter, was BH$47.887 million compared to BH$41.730 million and for the year to December BH$180.588 versus BH$165.678. The company reported losses of BH$9.2 million in the December quarter inclusive of a fixed asset write off of BH$5.8 million and $7.8 million for the year. Total shareholders’ equity stood at BH$91 million at the end of December 2016 and losses incurred in the March 2017 quarter of BH$7 million pushed shareholders’ equity down to BH$84 million at the end of March this year. Revenues in the March 2017 quarter rose 17 percent to $51 million up from $43.7 million in 2016 but operating cost jumped even faster by 60 percent to $46.6 million from $29 million with depreciation and amortization rising from $9 million to $16.8 million.
The stock last traded in the Bahamas at BH$4.05, with 900 units trading. Selling by investors is at $4.40 and above with buying interest at $4.05 and below.
The shares will only be listed as none will be offered to the public as an Initial Public Offering. Scotia Investments is the sponsoring broker.
Two other listing should be heading to the market within weeks as Stationery and Supplies and the Musson subsidiary Productive Business Solutions with operations in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA come to the market with a US$41 Million offer of ordinary shares.

Filed Under: Global Market, Initial Public Offers, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , ,