Apr 2015 Financial News

TTSE sees bright 2015

Apr 16, 2015

THE Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) is optimistic that 2015 will be a buoyant year in which it will experience strong growth. Already on the cards is the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 75,852,000 shares in Pheonix Park Gas Processors Limited, and TTSE Chairman Peter Clarke said he also expects to see the TTSE boosted with the addition of at least two new companies.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Clarke, said the last word he had from Finance Minister Larry Howai was that the Pheonix Park IPO was scheduled for the end of May 2015, “and we certainly hope that that timeframe can be met.”

He declined to give details about the two companies which are expected to be listed on the exchange this year, saying that discussions with them are still at the preliminary stage “but they will be interesting new listings for the exchange and will bring a degree of diversification.”

He said the future for the stock exchange was “challenging” but he was optimistic of a bright 2015. He said the main thing the exchange needed was more listings. “We are optimistic that we can provide investors with the best range of options, both on the equity and on the debt side going forward,” he said.

Questioned about the progress toward realising the longtime dream of a single regional stock market, Clarke said “If you have a single market you get greater liquidity and if you have greater liquidity you will probably attract more investors and you will have more trading activity. We haven’t reached that stage yet.”

He continued, “There are a number of challenges to getting there but there has been some progress in terms of what we have existing now which is that the three exchanges trade on the same platform. Shareholders can transfer shares quite freely between the three markets so you can buy shares on the Trinidad market and you can transfer them to Jamaica if you think there’s a better opportunity to sell in Jamaica or Barbados. So there’s that first step which has helped to a limited extent to improve liquidity.”

He said one of the big challenges to establishing the single Caribbean stock market is the question of choosing a settlement currency. The three markets are mandated to settle trades within three days and he said they must have a currency in which trades can be settled freely. “You cannot have a system where there’s any risk at all of a trade not settling, a seller not being paid, a buyer not getting delivery of shares. So there are things still to be worked out in terms of a single market but I think we have reached the stage where investors have that opportunity to look at all three markets and to operate within the framework of the three separate markets.”

Source:
By Verne Burnett
Newsday
Thursday April 16, 2015

http://www.newsday.co.tt/business/0,209765.html