National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) was officially delisted from the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on Friday, March 17, 2016 and on Monday, March 20th NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) a holding company started trading in a seamless process.
In welcoming the NCBFG team, well-wishers and media to the ceremony Mrs. Marlene Street Forrest, General Manager of the JSE told the audience that “Today as we conduct the ceremonial twin exercise, the delisting of NCBJ Ltd. and the listing of NCB Financial Group Ltd. (NCBFG) we are proud that we have a market that seamlessly provides an efficient mechanism that assists companies to reorganize themselves in a manner that causes no inconvenience to their shareholders and other investors.
Mrs. Forrest further stated that “In light of the NCBJ Ltd. restructuring exercise, the ordinary shares of NCB Financial Group Limited were listed by way of Introduction as no Offer was made to the public. The newly created Financial Group will trade under the symbol (NCBFG) and the ordinary shares in this company which shareholders received in exchange for their shares in NCB Ltd. are listed for equal value to those they previously held. Bearing in mind the “one to one” exchange of shares, the listing has had no impact on the Index or the overall market capitalization, nor the total number of securities listed on the JSE. NCB Financial Group shares were listed on March 16 at a listing price of $62.36”. Mrs. Forrest went on to highlight that “Today the Company will begin trading at $61.85 with a market capitalization of $152.57 billion dollars which represents the company with the largest market cap on the Exchange”.
Mr. Patrick Hylton, Group Managing Director NCB Financial Group Ltd., in his remarks noted that “throughout almost 180 years, many challenges presented themselves, but none compelling enough to derail our movements towards opportunities that exist on the horizon. Instead, we saw these setbacks as precursors that whet our appetite for success, making it more meaningful and attractive. He went on to highlight that “the last financial year also signaled the end of our ‘2 in 5’ Strategy which sought to position NCB among the top five financial institutions in the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Though that designation has not yet been achieved, we remain among the top 10 in the region. Mr. Hylton went on to state that “today, we are prepared to embrace yet another significant hallmark in our continued long-term dance with progress via necessary change. In response to stipulations by the Banking Services Act, with regard to financial holding company (FHC) licenses, NCB created an entity that will function as the FHC component of the brand. Our assessment have shown that, in order for us to maintain the progress we have made towards growth locally and regionally, designating the separate FHC instrument that is able to hold non-banking assets. This decision is consistent with what is standard in the current market, and we are confident that it is most importantly, beneficial to our general stakeholders including shareholders and our employees. In closing he said “at the heart of this focus on progress are our customers as well as dedicated staff members who remain the drivers of our business transformation and our shareholders all to whom we are committed to adding value. This strategic outline is our commitment to the journey to becoming the standard of excellence in financial service delivery”.
The removal of the NCB Jamaica Ltd strip from the digital listing board was done and the new strip NCB Financial Group Limited was inserted and also the new NCBFG logo was revealed.
