Oct 2009 Financial News

Delisting no big deal

Oct 15, 2009

Furness Trinidad Limited chairman Ignatius Ferreira said the delisting of his company from the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) will make no difference in their future plans.

With no trading activity since 2005, Furness, along with Valpark Shopping Plaza Limited, were delisted from the TTSE, effective October 5.

In a press statement last week, the TTSE said the delisting was made pursuant to an Order of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated May 14, 2009, under Section 45 of the Securities Industry Act (1995).

The order was granted after an application for de-listing was made by the TTSE, as it sought to administer its responsibility to the investing public. In an interview at his office at Concessions Road and Milling Avenue, Sea Lots Industrial Park, Port-of-Spain, Ferreira was nonchalant about the matter.

“We just did not have enough shares on the market, I have 98 percent and we had two percent on the market. So the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) told us to make a bid to the two percent which we did at the last selling price which was $6.15,” he said.

Ferreira admitted that he was not sure if the shareholders had to sell their shares but if they wanted to keep it, they can.

“I have no problem with it, if they want to keep it they can go right ahead, it does not really make a difference to me,” he said.

Some minority shareholders however opted to sell back the shares to the company. The chairman said that the only major disadvantage to being delisted is the cost attached to buying out shareholders.

“It is costly to me, I have to buy shares I do not really want but if the SEC says that it has to happen then that is what will be done,” he explained. Asked whether the company ever considered putting more shares in the market, he said there was no need to. “There is no need for it, why must I put shares on the market?

If I wanted to expand then I would have shares on the market to make money but the economy now is certainly not the time you want to expand. I have never seen this country in this state before,” he said.

Ferreira started working at Furness Withy and Co as an office boy after he left Belmont Intermediate in 1946. He then became an accounts clerk but decided that this was not the field for him.

He was transferred to the ice factory in Richmond Street to serve as a clerk.

From there, he moved to the hardware and lumber department where he held the position of cashier and then gained promotion to assistant manager.

From there, he was transferred to the Trinidad Trading Company (TTC) as a salesman in the hardware and engineering department.

Ferreira was then made managing director at TTC and in 1962 became a director of Furness.

Today, the company is the parent of a group of 20 subsidiaries engaged in a wide variety of trading, manufacturing and service industries.

In the company’s unaudited consolidated financial statement for six months ending June 30, 2009 their gross turnover stood at about $52M. In the group trading profit the cost was $10,013, taxation $2,514, net profit after tax $7.7 million and the group profit attributable to stockholders of Furness Trinidad Limited was $7.5 million.

Ferreira said delisted does not make a difference for his company, for him business goes on as usual. He said like others, Furness is feeling the impact of the economic slowdown.

“Sales have dropped, everything has dropped, people are no longer importing a lot of items that we used to keep in cold storage.

It is affecting Trinidad and Tobago as a whole but we are trying our best to deal with the situation,” he said.


Source:
Darcel Choy
Trinidad Newsday
Thursday, October 15 2009

http://www.newsday.co.tt/businessday/0,109166.html