New IPO Ahead! PROVEN Buys Bank & US Treasury Raises Rates

Here is the latest weekly digest (Dec 12th – Dec 18th, 2016). A quick easy read of this week’s top and most relevant business news. No fluff, just the highlights.

National Highlights

• The Senate has approved regulations that will allow wider access to banking services by authorised third parties. The services to be provided will include deposits and withdrawals, payment of bills and loan repayments, electronic transfer of funds, and account balance enquiries.

• Prime Minister visits cruise line headquarters In Miami – Prime Minister Andrew Holness, accompanied by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, visited the headquarters of the world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation, in Miami on Thursday. This is the first time a Jamaican prime minister had visited the headquarters of the 44 year-old Carnival.
• Jamaica to revive cargo and passenger rail service – A sum of US$250 million will be invested in the resuscitation of the country’s cargo and passenger rail service by the Government and several investors, including United States (US) company Herzog International. Also read.
• Interest rates on the government’s $1 billion credit-line micro loan facility disbursed by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) (and backed by the World Bank) has been reduced to six per cent from 10.5 per cent.
• Internationally, The US Treasury raised interest rates this week for only for the second time in a decade, by quarter percentage point (0.25%). This interest rate hike comes as all indicators reveal that the US economy is heating up and there are positive indicators all around (increasing employment and inflation). Rates on US loans related to credit cards and some mortgages have already increased.
• Panama already achieving 5-in-4 – Panama’s economy grew 4.8 percent during the third quarter, compared to the year-earlier period, the government said on Friday. Growth was driven by financial intermediation, construction, and utilities, even though operations slowed in the Panama Canal and the country’s ports. In October, the government changed its forecast for the year to 5.6 percent from 6 percent, due to weak global trade.
• Cuban farmers may now hire laborers directly rather than through cooperatives, the government said on Friday, marking a modest advance to loosen controls in its Soviet-style economy. In other sectors of the economy, like restaurants, Cuba has already allowed small business holders to directly hire staff.

Companies & The Markets

• Main Event Entertainment to list – With revenues posited to be in the range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion for 2015, Main Event Entertainment should be coming to the public within two weeks subject to the Financial Securities Commission effectively signing off on the prospectus. The company is expected to raise between $100 million to $200 million at a price between $1.50 and $3.50. Read more here

• Lee-Chin company to raise $1.8b for Mavis Bank Coffee – Specialty Coffee Investments Company Limited (SCI), a company connected to Michael Lee-Chin, will seek to raise $1.8 billion from a bond issue to refinance debt and improve the cup quality at Mavis Bank Coffee Factory (MBCF).
• Tortuga expands with US$3.5m investment – On Wednesday, Tortuga commissioned a US$3.5 million / 14,000 square-foot bakery at Retirement Cresent, Kingston which should increase productive capacity of rum cakes to 10 times its former bakery in Bogue, Montego Bay.
• Garfield Sinclair promoted to head Flow’s Caribbean operations – Garfield Sinclair was this week announced as President, Caribbean for Cable & Wireless Communications. The position has responsibility for operations in 15 territories across the region, including C&W’s Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados markets.
• PROVEN Investments Ltd (PIL) has entered into an agreement to purchase 100 per cent of the Bank of St Lucia International Ltd (BOSLIL), an international bank based in St Lucia. At they same time, they are seeking to raise $2 billion for acquisitions and expansion. Proven Investments Ltd (PIL) will this week open for subscription 400 million cumulative redeemable 8.25 per cent preference shares on the local capital market.
• Empire Cross Roads shopping complex has been sold to Eppley – Investment company Eppley Limited has bought the Empire Shopping Centre in Cross Roads, Kingston, which houses the last remaining supermarket under the Empire name.
• Perishables Jamaica Ltd (PJL), a company known for its top of the line teas has indicated that they have recently purchased a ($15 million) 10,000-square-foot factory in Hermitage, Manchester, that will be retrofitted into a modern nutraceutical facility to come into operation during 2017.

Thanks for reading Vol. 2016 Issue No. 10 of our weekly digest. ( 12.12.2016 – 18.12.2016 ). All Weekly reviews can be viewed here.