Sin Just, readying to strike the gong at SGX Center I upon
the IPO's first trade. Photo by Sim Kih
LEADING HONGKONG travel agency Westminster Travel reached an intra-day high of 25.5 cents this morning during its first day of trading.
The IPO, a first on SGX this year, raised net proceeds of S$5.4 million at 23.5 cents per share (9.7X FY08 PE) for working capital purposes.
This adds about S$65.8 million in market cap to the Singapore bourse under Catalist. The stock closed at 14 cents today.
The company's non-executive chairman, Dato Dr Wong Sin Just, owns 58.7% of its post-listing capital through SBI Travel.
Dato Dr Wong, 42, is also the founder and executive chairman of SBI E2-Capital, which was the financial adviser and placement agent for the IPO.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London
congratulates the Dato with a bull sculpture. Photo by Sim Kih
At least 50% of profit as dividend
Westminster intends to expand its presence in mainland China, one of the world’s fastest growing destinations for corporate and leisure travel.
It generated revenues of HK$178.9 million from agency commission income for sales of air tickets, hotel rooms and other travel related services for the financial year ended June 2008.
Net profits were HK$33.1 million after adjusting for write-back of provisions, translating into net margins of 18.5%.
The company intends to pay at least 50% of its net profit as dividends.
