Portland JSX Limited listed its Ordinary Shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Main Market with its Initial Public Offer (IPO) raising over one billion Jamaican dollars from five hundred and eighty-seven (587) applications.
Jamaica Stock Exchange General Manager Mrs. Marlene Street Forrest, stated that “within the first six months of this year, over $9.6 billion was raised in the market through IPOs alone. Over the last ten years, this is the most raised in IPOs and if we were to include Rights Issues, we would just be $200M shy of the $9.6 billion raised last year. Mrs. Forrest, further stated that, Portland JSX Ltd. is the first new company and the third security to be listed on the JSE Main Market in 2016, increasing the total listed companies to 35 and total listed securities to 45 on the Main Market. Including PJSX, the total number of companies listed on the JSE amounts to 65 and a total of 82 securities are listed. As at July 5, 2016, the market capitalization of the Main Market amounted to $584.08 billion. The market capitalization of PJSX amounts to $3.41 billion; as such the market capitalization of the Main Market will increase to $587.49 billion and the overall market capitalization will increase to $674.64 billion at the start of trading today.
In closing, Mrs. Street Forrest, congratulated Victoria Mutual Wealth Management Ltd. (VMWM) who was the Lead Broker responsible for the Portland JSX Offer. She also noted that this was the third company that VMWM has brought to list since the start of the year. She said that she anticipated more listing from VMWM and she also encouraged other brokers to work with other companies to raise funds and list on the market.
Mr. Robert Almeida, in his remarks thanked the lead broker VM Wealth Management Ltd, Hart Muirhead Fatta law firm, the Financial Services Commission and the Jamaica Stock Exchange Group for working with his team to make this listing a reality today to become the largest IPO Ordinary Share offering on the JSE. In closing he thanked the investors for the confidence that they have shown so that the Offer was oversubscribed by 19.6%.
Mr. Devon Barrett, General Manager Victoria Mutual Wealth Management revealed that “the overwhelming success of this issue can be attributed to a few critical factors hitting at the same time and I highlight these because future IPOs could benefit from this experience”. He went on to state them: High investor sentiment toward the issuers- this was as a result of the professionalism, organization and experience of the issuer. Required documents were always ready, available/attendance at investor meetings was prioritized; presentations of future plans at meeting were clear/ concise and their track-record/past performance was well articulated. Secondly he spoke about – Favorable market conditions and perfect timing; these conditions were brought on by the removal of political risk with passing of the February 2016 general election, the continued success of the IMF and economic programme (12 consecutive IMF test passed) and the high liquidity level resulting from the GOJ’s significantly lower borrowing needs. The JSE’s world topping performance in 2015 was also a major boost to investor confidence. The third and final factor he noted was the new investment opportunity- this vehicle offered investors the opportunity to participate in ventures which were previously out of their reach. These include the Panamanian wind powered plant and a Bermudian bank; advantages were the size of the ventures and the geographical location of these ventures. Investors now have an investment option that offers diversification by countries, currency and industry and can be liquidated through an organized market.
