Business in brief

JSE IPO oversubscribed

Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) said Monday that the offer to take up shares in the Jamaica Stock Exchange was oversubscribed by 41 per cent.

The offer at J$2.85 per share, which opened Friday, July 5, got 150 applications, the broker said. It closed the offer near the end of the business day on Monday.

The basis on which the shares will be allotted will be determined before the end of the week.

The invitation for subscription covered 38.25 million ordinary shares, 28.05 million are newly issued shares and 10.2 million were existing shares of the selling shareholder, said SSL.

BOJ to issue new CDs

The Bank of Jamaica has opened another two special Certificates of Deposit for subscription.

The offers close July 12.

This time, the issues are priced above seven per cent per annum.

A one-year instrument will pay 7.35 per cent on the first interest payment to be made in six months on. The CD will be repriced at the six-month weighty treasury rate plus 0.23 percentage point.

The other CD, which matures in 18 months, is being issued initially at 7.37 per cent in six months, and repriced at 0.25 percentage point above the prevailing six-month treasury rate.

Jamaica, Solomon Islands establish diplomatic relations

Jamaica formalised diplomatic relations with Solomon Islands at a ceremony at the Permanent Mission of Solomon Islands to the United Nations in New York on July 3, the foreign ministry said.

Jamaica's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Courtenay Rattray and his Solomon Islands counterpart, Ambassador Collin Beck were signatories to the joint communiqué.

The communiqué calls for the promotion and strengthening of the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

In discussions on the similarities of the two cultures, Beck remarked on the significant influence of reggae music in Solomon Islands.

Energy prices

Oil rose slightly Tuesday as traders awaited news on US crude supplies, OPEC production and the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy stance.

In New York, benchmark crude for August delivery gained 39 cents to close at US$103.53 a barrel. The price has remained steady this week after rising US$6.66, or nearly seven per cent, last week.

Oil was down in the morning when US stock markets opened, then pushed higher as stocks rose. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 76 points at 15,300.

Brent crude, which is used to set prices for oil used by many US refineries, was up 38 cents at US$107.81 on the ICE exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, wholesale gasoline added four cents at US$2.93 a gallon, natural gas fell eight cents to US$3.66 per 1,000 cubic feet, and heating oil gained one cent to US$2.99 per gallon.

Venezuela detects embezzlement from Chinese fund

Venezuela's president says that five officials with a development fund financed by China have been arrested in connection with the alleged embezzlement of US$84 million.

In 2008, Venezuela and China created the fund to finance projects between the countries. It is run by the state Economic and Social Development Bank of Venezuela, or Bandes. Venezuela has received billions of dollars in loans from China.

President Nicolas Maduro said during a ceremony broadcast Monday on Venezuela state television that "We have captured and detained five people in raids we just carried out in Caracas in connection with the embezzlement of US$84 million from the Chinese fund."

Maduro did not provide details about the alleged embezzlement.

The arrests come amid a government anti-corruption plan that Maduro announced last month.

Fiat exercises option to buy more Chrysler stock

Italian automaker Fiat has exercised a third option to buy a small amount of Chrysler stock, but the sale won't go through until a US court settles a dispute over the price.

Fiat said Monday that it offered US$254.7 million for another 3.3 per cent of Chrysler's outstanding equity.

Fiat already owns 58.5 per cent of Chrysler, with the remaining 41.5 per cent held by a trust that pays medical bills for retired United Auto Workers union members.

The Italian company wants to buy all of the trust's stock and fully merge Chrysler and Fiat.

The price on the options will be settled by a judge in Delaware Chancery Court, and the ruling is likely to set the price for the trust's remaining Chrysler stake.

Morgan Stanley, in a July 5 note to investors, estimated that it would cost Fiat US$2 billion to US$5 billion to buy the trust's entire stake.