West Indies Petroleum Terminal Limited (WIPT) was listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in December, with the last financial statements up to December 2024. In a release to the stock exchange, the company indicates that it will exercise the option to submit its unaudited financial statements for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2025 and its audited financial statements within 90 days of its year end.
There is something completely wrong with this listing. The stock is currently trading at a PE of 51 based on 2024 earnings adjusted for a one off expense, with very little supply coming on the market. Since listing, only 16,003 shares have traded to date, with the stock in heavy buying demand.
WIPT is the only company currently listed with no financial report after more than a year since the last report. Investors are trading blindly, with only old information available to use to assess the company.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange and the Financial Security Commission have a responsibility to the public to ensure investors have up to date information to base their trading on. It cannot be right for a company to list so late in the year, without releasing interim results. For the company to now state that they are going to release interim figures in 90 days of the 2025 last quarter is not acceptable when the requirement is 45 days.
The stock exchange cannot have two rules for companies listing by invitation and those listing through an IPO when it comes to financial data. An IPO has to report up to date financials no more than a few months old so why was WIPT allowed to list with 12 months old financials?
The company’s management would do itself and the company a great deal of good by immediately releasing the interim results for the March, June and September quarters and releasing the December quarterly results within 45 days, as is the JSE requirement.
The above and other grave unresolved issues in the stock market call for action to protect investors, not just a few.