Trop-X (Seychelles) Ltd: Seychelles Stock Exchange Report for the Year 2016 |20 February 2017

Number of local trading accounts up by 175%

For the year 2016, the market was again characterised by increased participation from local investors mainly with the listing of Seychelles Breweries Ltd (SBL) in June 2016 which resulted in an increase of 175% in the number of local trading accounts opened.

The market also witnessed a marked increase in the participation from foreign investors mainly from the listing of the Wealth Migrate companies under the Wealth Migrate Multi Issuer Program for the real estate investment crowd funding platform which resulted in an increase of more than 200 foreign owned trading accounts created. Among their three listed companies, WM Med 5 Limited paid a dividend of US0.02 per share to its shareholders in November 2016 resulting in a dividend yield of 2% with WM Cypress Ridge Limited expected to pay dividends on February 24, 2017.

With six newly listed companies joining the Trop-X Main Board in 2016, the equities market continues to show signs of progress and strength. The increase in the number of companies listed resulted in an increase in the total market capitalisation for the three equity boards by 247% compared to the year 2015 as the year 2016 ended with a market cap of US $105.4 million.

Trading

With an increase in the number of listings, total trade value in 2016 increased by 298% compared to 2015. This was mainly attributed to retail clients’ growing appetite in trading of local stocks.  

Compared to 2015, the highest traded price for Bodco Ltd (BOD) for 2016 decreased by SCR0.50 although there was a 35% increase in its amount of shares traded. On June 27, 2016, the company announced at the meeting of shareholders a share split of 4 for 1 that changed the share price from SCR100 to SCR25 and issued 3 additional ordinary shares for each share held by current shareholders. Despite relatively low trade volumes, BOD paid a dividend to its shareholders of SCR3 per share in August 2016 and dividend yield was 3%, same as 2015. BOD is listed on Trop-X’s SME Board.

Listed on the VCAP Board, the highest traded prices for Sea Harvest Investment Plc (SHI) remained constant last year when compared to 2015. SHI plc (formerly Soccerhubb Limited) acquired, in March last year, 93.3% of the shares of Sea Harvest (Seychelles) Ltd – a fish processing and export company in Seychelles. A total of 228 000 SHI plc shares were traded on the securities exchange last year and to raise additional capital, the company will undertake a renounceable rights issue in 2017 which will be traded on Trop-X.

Being the first listed company on Trop-X’s Main Board, SACOS Group Ltd (SAC) continues to see active investor participation in the trading of its shares and compared to 2015 its highest traded price increased by SCR10.00 with a high of SCR150.00. Uncertificated shares available for trading on Trop-X represent 65% of the total issued shares at the end of 2016 compared to only 23% at the end of 2015. Based on the 2015 SACOS Group Ltd Annual Report, earnings per share of the company increased by 7% compared to the financial year 2014. In August 2016 the company paid a dividend of SCR8.50 per share to shareholders and dividend yield was 5.86% similar to 2015.

Listed on Trop-X’s Main Board on June 30, 2016, SBL’s shares have seen a growing interest from both local and foreign investors. Between July to December 2016, a total of 580 000 Seychelles Breweries shares were traded on Trop-X representing a share turnover of 5 per cent. Subsequently, after rallying to SCR122 per share post listing, the share price fell to SCR60 in December. 2017 has however started well for investors in SBL as the share price has risen by 33% to SCR 80 a share. At the end of 2016, market capitalisation of SBL was SCR756 million.  Uncertificated shares available for trading represent 29% of the total issued shares and a total of 3.6 million shares were dematerialized at the end of 2016. After listing, the company paid a dividend of SCR0.50 per share in December 2016 and dividend yield was 0.63%.

Broker members

Trop-X currently has two active broker members on the Exchange, namely Constant Capital (Seychelles) and Direct Markets Africa.   Both have physical offices located on Eden Island and provide customer services in both English and Creole. Both members have seen a significant rise in the number of trading accounts opened and also a wider participation of local retail investors on Trop-X.  A total of 292 trading accounts have been created in 2016 which represents a 135% increase compared to 2015.  Individual (“retail”) accounts still represent the bulk of trading accounts and outnumber the institutional accounts by 35:1.

Other market news

In April 2016, Trop-X became the 23^rd Exchange to make a commitment to the sustainability and transparency of capital markets in Seychelles by joining the UN’s Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative. This coincided with the Seychelles’ Government focus on the Blue Economy Strategy as Trop-X sees the role of an Exchange as going beyond connecting issuers and investors as capital markets can also bring other positive benefits to an economy and society as a whole.

In line with the recent initiatives undertaken by Trop-X to scale up its activities, this year the Exchange will be revamping its listing framework which will provide for the listing of specialist companies and specialist debt instruments. Coupled with the recent announcements made by the Government in the Budget Speech and recently in the State-of-the-nation address concerning the selling of shares in state owned companies, Trop-X looks forward towards a successful 2017 with the anticipation of more listings both domestic and international.

Contact us

If you are interested in opening a trading account or if you have certificated shares in SACOS Group Ltd or Seychelles Breweries Ltd please get in touch with one of our two broker members who can assist both in English and Creole:

Constant Capital (Seychelles) Ltd - 434 6820/ or email info@constant.sc

Direct Markets Africa – 4346770/ or email info@directmarketsafrica.com

For more information please visit our website on www.trop-x.com or call us on 434 68 00.

Trop-X is a member of the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (COSSE), African Securities Exchange (ASEA), and an affiliate member of the World Federation of

Exchanges (WFE).