Christopher Williams. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE PUBLIC offering of shares in Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) gives the average Jamaican an opportunity to invest in a good long-term investment, says Christopher Williams, managing director of NCB Capital Markets.
It is not a "quick buck" opportunity for speculators wishing to buy shares in the offering and quickly sell when trading starts, he said. Supreme Ventures is offering 125 million shares to the public at a price of $4.81 each, starting on Thursday, and NCB Capital Markets is the lead agent and underwriter for the issue.
"We want to discourage speculators from jumping in to ride the issue," he said in a telephone interview. "That is not how you take advantage of this type of opportunity."
Well known for its 'Cash Pot', 'Lucky 5' and 'Dollaz' lottery games, the company is rapidly expanding its slot machine operations while also getting income from its remittance arm, MoneyGram, as well as from the sale of phone cards.
GREATER PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
Mr. Williams said the company was going public as SVL had been instructed by the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission to list its shares on the stock exchange by the end of January to allow for greater public ownership. The minimum purchase amount was kept low at 2,000 units to make the shares accessible to a wide cross section of the public.
The offer which represents just 4.73 per cent of the issued share capital of SVL, officially closes on January 27.
The shares were priced differently from recent initial public offers as the company is a young one going through a rapid development, he said. Rather than being valued based on past income, the shares are priced based on expected income.
Some analysts have objected to the pricing, but Mr. Williams said the methodology was normal in foreign markets and gave the offer of Google shares as one of the most recent examples.
"The multiple (ratio of price to earnings) with Supreme shares is high on an historical basis," he said. But the company has substantially strengthened its financial base over the last six months and is projecting a rapid expansion in profits over the next two years.
"The average person already knows about the lottery business and should use this as an opportunity to own a piece of it," he said. "Buy some shares, put them down and see what happens three to five years from this."
