Keen interest in PremFish’s stock

There was some appetite for Premier Fishing (PremFish) on its first day of trading on the JSE on Thursday. After raising R526m by issuing new shares at 450c per share in a private placement, the PremFish shares touched an intraday high of 520c before ending the day at 504c.

There was some appetite for Premier Fishing (PremFish) on its first day of trading on the JSE on Thursday.

After raising R526m by issuing new shares at 450c per share in a private placement, the PremFish shares touched an intraday high of 520c before ending the day at 504c. Trading volumes were encouraging, which is not surprising since the private placement was nearly four times oversubscribed.

PremFish, which is 55% owned by African Empowerment Equity Investments (AEEI), has earmarked the private placement proceeds to increase capacity in abalone farming and make selective acquisitions.

AEEI CEO Khalid Abdulla was pleased at the premium price achieved on listing. He said AEEI was confident PremFish could build the business to the next level with one or two acquisitions possible in the next six months.

PremFish earns the bulk of its keep in export-oriented businesses such as south coast and west coast lobster as well as farmed abalone. It also has a presence in the pelagic and squid sectors.

PremFish has pencilled in profit before tax of R91m for the year to August 2017 (a figure that includes about R20m in net interest earned). The prelisting statement forecast headline earnings of 33c per share with a maiden dividend of 15c per share. This puts PremFish’s shares on a forward earnings multiple of just under 15 times and a forward yield of 3%.