Jan 2007 Financial News

Companies not doing enough to encourage trading [Barbados]

Jan 30, 2007

COMPANIES are not doing enough to encourage the public to purchase shares, says Interim President of the Barbados Association of Corporate Shareholders (BACS), Douglas Skeete.

"How often do you see on television a panel of the Directors themselves discussing the fortunes of the company. That needs to happen a lot more, almost on a quarterly basis, Directors and their financial controllers need to go to the public not only on the television but they need to go to the town hall meetings, schools and communities,"says Skeete.

Yet with a few shareholders owning majority interest in most companies on the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE), company heads may not feel compelled to mount a campaign encouraging potential minority shareholders to invest. These persons who may only be able to purchase a few shares will hold no major sway over companies' share prices. What then would encourage a company to go out to the communities preaching investment?

Skeete says it's in their best interest to do so. "They (companies) have an interest in that they provide a good return to the shareholders and one of measurements is an increase in share price. They must see it as one of their mandates to do that, not only with the small per cent (who own shares) but ones who don't own any and get them to buy," Skeete said.

In the meantime Skeete's young organisation plans to fill in the educational gaps the companies have left bare. The first step includes getting membership in the organisation to a decent level.

"We are at the building stage ... The immediate plans are to raise numbers, build our knowledge, educate members, get shareholders interested in attending the annual meetings so that when they come around you have a significant number of shareholders attending," said Skeete.

"We want to invite individuals, who have competencies and are comfortable talking about investing, to give some of their time, come and go to schools and within the communities. It will take some time, not a year, it's a plan for a five-year period. It's an educational program for the long-term," Skeete continued.

According to him BACS is there to represent the interest of "the guy who holds 100 shares".

"The organisation really is for the benefit of the minority shareholders of companies. We have incorporated a company called the Barbados Association of Corporate Shareholders Inc.. The aim of the association is to represent the needs and interest of minority and prospective shareholders of companies especially as it relates to education about investment," he said.

The Barbados Advocate
Tuesday, January 30, 2007.
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=29708