- CARLINGTON WILMOT/FRELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Francis Haynes, general manager of Carib Cement Company addressing the audience at Mayberry's monthly Investors' Forum at Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday.
Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
MAYBERRY INVESTMENTS Limited held its monthly Investors' Forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday with Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCC) as the featured company. However, Mayberry's impending listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) was the buzz for the evening.
Guest speaker Francis Anthony Haynes, chief executive officer and general manager of CCC gave an update on his company.
"If we don't modernise we'll die."
Mr. Haynes informed the audience that CCC is looking at every option to take the business to the next level. Currently, the company supplies 100 per cent of the Jamaican market, as there is a 40 per cent duty on imported cement. CCC has been in this position since October 2004 when cement importers withdrew from the market.
However, that duty will expire in 2007.
Mr. Haynes continued, "We recognise that unless we do things differently, we won't have better performance. And so we have developed a strategic plan that we call the ABC plan."
According to Mr. Haynes the ABC plan comprises optimising the plant through expansion and modernisation of equipment used, and to create a blended cement to bring down production costs, and be more environmentally friendly.
One of the major initiatives arising out of that mandate is to successfully introduce a low-cost cement product, Carib Cement Plus.
BLENDED CEMENT
According to Mr. Haynes, "We are pleased to say that 50 per cent of the market has moved to blended cement, which costs less than regular cement, in the month and a half since it was introduced."
And for those who wonder how CCC will manage after the tariff is removed in 2007, Mr. Haynes answers. "We will have to reduce our prices to a competitive level; increase product offerings; promote alternative use of cement such as concrete roads and expand our business to bring in hard currency inflows."
However, the real star of the evening was Mayberry Investments. Or rather, its up coming initial public offering (IPO).
Eager investors snapped up the prospectus issued on Wednesday evening at the end of Mr. Haynes presentation.
The offer price has been set at $5.05 per share and will be on offer at this price from March 31 until April 5. Thereafter it will be for sale at market price on the JSE on April 18.
However, as the saying goes, 'the early bird catches the worm' and so Mayberry's special clients were able to benefit from an even lower price during a Private Placement offer in February.
According to the company's Prospectus, "the Company privately offered shares at $4.38 per share to a group of 50 institutional investors and high net worth individuals. The placement commenced on February 21 and by midday on February 23, applications had been received from 45 invitees, yielding gross proceeds of $1.39 billion."
And so with approximately 30 per cent of the company up for sale, the next few days will present an interesting time for investors.
