FosRich gets nod to approach the market

FosRich Company Limited is expected to approach the stock market for more equity capital, having got the nod from shareholders for a increase in the company’s authorised capital by 30 times its current levels.

Prior to going to market, the company will execute a stock split that will see owners of the shares holding 10 times more units effective July 27. The value of their holdings will be unchanged, however, as the price per unit will also split in tandem with the expanded shares.

FosRich closed at $36.25 on the market on Friday. A 10 for one stock split would have reduced that price to $3.62.

The company’s authorised capital will rise from 512.821 million units to 15 billion.

Following the stock split, the number of shares in issue and available for trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange will rise from more than 502.27 million to over 5.02 billion.

That leaves just under 10 billion units from which the company can issue shares. The date of its next offer to the market is yet to be determined but shareholders have given the company the authority to sell up to 126 million shares through a rights issue or additional public offering through the junior market.

Its pending market foray comes amid continuing expansion by the energy and lighting company, whose associate Blue Emerald Limited just received final sign-off on its operating certificate as a single SEZ developer under permit from the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority or JSEZA.

Mayberry Investments and Patterson Mair Hamilton are acting as co-arranger and adviser to the pending FosRich share offer.

The company, whose annual revenues top $2.3 billion, added the manufacture of PVC pipes to its operations and recently entered the export market with its pipes, starting with Barbados and Guatemala.

In the March quarter revenue rose 64 per cent to $900 million while profit spiked 314 per cent to $159 million.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com