PACIFIC STOCK EXCHANGE REVIEW:

$1.86b Market Value, All Time High

The overall market value last week ended January 19, rose to a new all-time high value of $1.86 billion an increase of 0.11 per cent ($2.1 million).

This was highlighted by the South Pacific Stock Exchange market review.

There were a total of 66,323 shares exchanging hands in 18 transactions garnering $587,326 in consideration.

A total of $873,221 worth of new orders were recorded on the orders platform with buy orders ranking higher at 67.95 per cent.

In terms of the price movements during the week the SPSE reported that three listed shares experienced price gains and no price loss.

Free Bird Institute Limited (FBL) shares gained 1.96 per cent (+$0.05) and concluded at a new all-time high price of $2.60.

Pleass Global Limited (PBP) shares ascended 7.14 per cent (+$0.15) to end the week at a new all-time high price of $2.25 while

Vision Investments Limited (VIL) shares rose by a further 0.36 per cent (+$0.01) and ended at a new best share price of $2.81.

According to the review, Paradise Beverages Fiji Limited’s (PBF) shares were the highlights of the week. It represented 60.31 per cent of the volume traded and 88.54 per cent of the value traded.

The SPSE also released last month’s trading report which records a total of 622,628 shares exchanged hands in 271 transactions accumulating $1,366,384 ($1.3m) in value.

Free Bird Institute Limited (FBL) recorded the most active stock in terms of volume and value traded while Fijian Holdings Limited (FHL) shares recorded majority of the trades on back of the dividend reinvestment orders. Below are the other reports recorded last month as per the statement:

New Investors (in December only):

13 new/first time investors sought investment opportunities in the stock market during the month while 17 shareholders who had invested earlier during the year were also seen to be re-entering the market.

New Investors (12 month aggregate basis):

Aggregating the new investor statistics for the 12 months saw a total of 147 new investors entering the Fijian stock market in 2017. These new investors yielded 334 trades and contributed 715,554 shares in volume traded and garnered $1,581,662 ($1.6m) in value traded.

Overall, the new investors demonstrated an impressive contribution towards the overall trading statistics for 2017 accounting for 23.29 per cent of the overall number of trades, 24.18 per cent of the overall volume traded and 20.99 per cent of the overall value traded.

New Investors (by type of investor):

During 2017, majority of the new shareholders that invested in the listed companies were individuals and represented 79.59 per cent of the overall new investment by investor type. These individuals are public servants, private sector employees, domestic workers, retirees, students and farmers.

New Investors (by employment):

A review of the new investors by type of employment indicated that majority of the new investors recorded during 2017 were those employed in the private sector.

Analysis of new investors entering the market also showed that majority of the new investors fall between the age ranges of 26 years to 35 years with the age range of 36 years to 55 years queuing behind.

Also an interesting trend noted is that more than 50 per cent of the new investors recorded were below the age of 35 years.

The overall market value recorded a growth of 2.21 per cent ($38,892,948) over the month of December and concluded at a new maximum value of $1,796,850,636 ($1.8b). Comparing the market capitalisation movement on a 12 monthly basis shows that the aggregate market value has grown by 36.25 per cent over the December 2016 to December 2017 period.

Also the monthly trend depicts a 2.65 per cent average monthly growth in market value over the preceding 12 month period.

The SPSE Total Return Index (STRI) rose by 2.21 per cent (91.11 points) and concluded the month at an all-time maximum value of 4484.68.