SINGAPORE | Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:14pm EDT
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Shares of Singapore pawnbroker ValueMax Group Ltd (VAMG.SI) jumped around 17 percent above its initial public offering price in its trading debut on Wednesday, signaling strong investor interest in alternative finance providers in the city-state.
It is the third pawnbroker to list in Singapore after Maxi-Cash Financial Services Corp Ltd (MAXI.SI) and MoneyMax Financial Services Ltd (MFSL.SI).
ValueMax shares rose as high as S$0.595 versus its IPO price of S$0.51. Within a few minutes of trading, around 20 million shares had already been traded. The company said its offering of 138 million shares was around 6.3 times subscribed.
ValueMax said it plans to acquire businesses and set up new pawnshops and second-hand jewelry retail outlets. It also aims to distribute 50 percent of its net profit as dividends for each of its 2013, 2014 and 2015 fiscal years.
Faced with rising living costs and unable to wait until pay day, growing numbers of Southeast Asians are putting their gold jewelry and designer watches in hock, creating a boom in pawnshops across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
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