Guardian Holdings delists from JSE
Published:Sunday | December 15, 2013 | 12:00 AM
The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has approved a request by Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL) to have its shares delisted.
"The action by GHL was reached after it undertook a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits of maintaining its dual listing on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) and the JSE," the company said.
GHL is the most expensive stock on the main index Jamaican exchange at $270 per share and barely trades. Its price is second only to a new entrant, Eppley on the junior market, which is trading at $380 per share.
GHL stock crossed the floor just once in 2013, and lost 2.53 per cent of its value from the 752 units traded.
Last year, the stock traded six times in volumes ranging up to 337,773 units. GHL has 231.9 million units listed on the local exchange.
Guardian Holdings is a Trinidad-based insurance conglomerate with operations spanning the region, including Jamaica. The company said activity in the GHL stock on the Kingston exchange represents less than 1.5 per cent of the overall trading activity in GHL shares.
The stock will be delisted on December 31. Its register closes a week earlier on December 24.
"Thereafter, Jamaican investors can continue to trade GHL shares through the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange, where its shares will trade as normal," the company said.
Its exit will leave just two cross-listed stocks — Trinidad Cement Limited, and FirstCaribbean International Bank of Barbados.