The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) finally began trading shares on Wednesday nine months after it officially opened (AFP, Tang Chhin Sothy)Posted by: CNN.com business producer, Kevin Voigt
Watch the video at CNN.com.
(CNN) – Cambodia joined the capital markets Wednesday as its own stock market opened for trade in a bid to attract foreign capital to the Southeast Asian nation.
Trade started with one stock – Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. The initial public offering of 13 million shares – 15% of the state-owned company – was 17 times over subscribed, according to underwriter Tong Yang Securities.
Interest in the stock has come from “Thailand, Vietnam – the biggest demand is from China, then Japan, Korea and even the U.S.,” KT Han, managing director of Tong Yang Securities, told CNN.
While the Cambodian economy has steadily grown at an average annual rate above 8% the past 10 years, the nation is still a financial frontier. The government is hoping the stock exchange will help bulwark the national currency, the riel, against an onslaught of U.S. dollars. Nearly 80% of the cash that changes hands in Cambodia are greenbacks, compared to 60% in the late 1990s, according to a 2011 International Monetary Fund report.
The start of trade comes nine months after the launch of the stock exchange, and it may be some time before more companies are listed on the exchange. One reason why: Companies need to be audited for at least three years by an accredited accounting firm. Few have started that process, but Telecom Cambodia is planning to have its IPO later this year.
While the nation has made great strides stabilizing after the war-torn years emerging from the war-torn decades of the 1970s and 1980s – punctuated by the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge – it still faces an uphill economic battle. The nation ranks 164th out of 182 countries in the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Still the opportunities in Cambodia – with half its population under the age of 25 – are immense, said Scott Lewis, Chief Investment Officer of Leopard Capital, an investment fund that focuses on pre-emerging markets. But the Cambodia Stock Exchange could face volatility in its early phase, he said.
"You could have a lot of people thinking it's going to be a buy and flip scenario,” Lewis said. “Shares will keep going up and all of a sudden, people start to sell and then it takes a long time to recover.”
-CNN’s Pauline Chiou contributed to this report
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Cambodian bourse in long-awaited first day of trade
(AFP)
PHNOM PENH — The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) finally began trading shares on Wednesday nine months after it officially opened, when a water monopoly became the first firm to list.
Trading symbolically started at 09:09 am local time (0209 GMT) -- the number nine is considered lucky in Cambodia -- and will finish at noon. Normal trading hours will be from 08:00 am until 11:30 am.
Cambodia launched the bourse to great fanfare in July 2011, after numerous delays because of the global financial crisis and regulatory hurdles.
But no firms were ready to list on the market -- a joint venture between the government and South Korea's stock exchange.
Now the formerly state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) is floating 13 million shares, or 15 percent of the company, starting at 6,300 riel ($1.57) per share.
The state will continue to own the remaining 85 percent.
The firm's Initial Public Offering (IPO) last month was 17 times oversubscribed, an indicator of strong investor appetite for the long-awaited exchange, observers said.
Two more state-owned enterprises are expected to launch their IPOs later this year.
Stock quotations for trading must be in the local currency, the riel -- in line with the government's long-term goal to reduce reliance on the US dollar, which according to the Asian Development Bank makes up more than 90 percent of all currency in circulation in the country.
But for the first three years, both buyers and sellers can arrange to settle payments in dollars at their agreement, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC).
While still among one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict as one of the region's rising economies.
It remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust means many people hoard their money at home instead of using banks.
(CNN) – Cambodia joined the capital markets Wednesday as its own stock market opened for trade in a bid to attract foreign capital to the Southeast Asian nation.
Trade started with one stock – Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. The initial public offering of 13 million shares – 15% of the state-owned company – was 17 times over subscribed, according to underwriter Tong Yang Securities.
Interest in the stock has come from “Thailand, Vietnam – the biggest demand is from China, then Japan, Korea and even the U.S.,” KT Han, managing director of Tong Yang Securities, told CNN.
While the Cambodian economy has steadily grown at an average annual rate above 8% the past 10 years, the nation is still a financial frontier. The government is hoping the stock exchange will help bulwark the national currency, the riel, against an onslaught of U.S. dollars. Nearly 80% of the cash that changes hands in Cambodia are greenbacks, compared to 60% in the late 1990s, according to a 2011 International Monetary Fund report.
The start of trade comes nine months after the launch of the stock exchange, and it may be some time before more companies are listed on the exchange. One reason why: Companies need to be audited for at least three years by an accredited accounting firm. Few have started that process, but Telecom Cambodia is planning to have its IPO later this year.
While the nation has made great strides stabilizing after the war-torn years emerging from the war-torn decades of the 1970s and 1980s – punctuated by the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge – it still faces an uphill economic battle. The nation ranks 164th out of 182 countries in the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Still the opportunities in Cambodia – with half its population under the age of 25 – are immense, said Scott Lewis, Chief Investment Officer of Leopard Capital, an investment fund that focuses on pre-emerging markets. But the Cambodia Stock Exchange could face volatility in its early phase, he said.
"You could have a lot of people thinking it's going to be a buy and flip scenario,” Lewis said. “Shares will keep going up and all of a sudden, people start to sell and then it takes a long time to recover.”
-CNN’s Pauline Chiou contributed to this report
------------------------------------
Cambodian bourse in long-awaited first day of trade
(AFP)
PHNOM PENH — The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) finally began trading shares on Wednesday nine months after it officially opened, when a water monopoly became the first firm to list.
Trading symbolically started at 09:09 am local time (0209 GMT) -- the number nine is considered lucky in Cambodia -- and will finish at noon. Normal trading hours will be from 08:00 am until 11:30 am.
Cambodia launched the bourse to great fanfare in July 2011, after numerous delays because of the global financial crisis and regulatory hurdles.
But no firms were ready to list on the market -- a joint venture between the government and South Korea's stock exchange.
Now the formerly state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) is floating 13 million shares, or 15 percent of the company, starting at 6,300 riel ($1.57) per share.
The state will continue to own the remaining 85 percent.
The firm's Initial Public Offering (IPO) last month was 17 times oversubscribed, an indicator of strong investor appetite for the long-awaited exchange, observers said.
Two more state-owned enterprises are expected to launch their IPOs later this year.
Stock quotations for trading must be in the local currency, the riel -- in line with the government's long-term goal to reduce reliance on the US dollar, which according to the Asian Development Bank makes up more than 90 percent of all currency in circulation in the country.
But for the first three years, both buyers and sellers can arrange to settle payments in dollars at their agreement, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC).
While still among one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict as one of the region's rising economies.
It remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust means many people hoard their money at home instead of using banks.
1 comment:
Murderous Vietminh Keat Chhon was Vietnam, a secret Vietnamese/Yuon agent hiding among Khmer Rouges who killed millions of innocent Khmer people during the Killing Fields (1975 to 1979).
Now this bloody killer Keat Chhon has sought the greatest opportunity to position himself as the wealthy and powerful from the stupid and dumb ass ( Viet dog ) Hun Sen's support.
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