Two factories hope to list on CSX

The next two stocks to be listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange will probably be Taiwan-owned garment factories, according to market insiders.

The news comes as the lone listed stock on the Cambodia Securities Exchange declined slightly in value during the past month, dropping from an August 20 price of 6,500 riel (US$1.62) to a closing at 6,300 riel yesterday as investors wait for the next IPO to be listed.

The first of the Taiwan-owned companies is expected to list as early as late October, with another to follow before the end of the year. Insiders say the listing of the Sihanoukville Port is unlikely to take place this year.

Cambodia Securities Exchange CEO Hong Sokhour said he believes that any changes in the price of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) stock are up to investors. “It is up to buyers and sellers at the time.”

One trader said there was little chance of PPWSA’s stock price being diminished by flooding, for example. 

“It’s not like agriculture, where crops get wiped out,” he said.

Jun Takeguchi, deputy CEO of Sonatra Securities said the drop in the stock’s value was because interest in Cambodia’s single stock had declined. “New investors have become fewer,” Takeguchi said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) recognised the consequences of having only one stock on the CSX last month when SECC Deputy Director General Sok Dara, speaking at an accounting conference, said the CSX could not rely on only one company.

“We started with one company, but now we need to ensure liquidity and that actually reflects the development of the market,” he said.

PPWSA may receive a boost to its value through the supply of new water infrastructure to Camko City, which has restarted construction, as well as another under-construction satellite city, called AZ Town.

More services could mean increased earnings, according to one trader who said that a greater area of coverage for the PPWSA could translate into more earnings, but might also take time.

The CSX’s Sokhour said only investors could say if the PPWSA supply of new water infrastructure to satellite cities would affect the stock price.

“Right now creation of a new satellite city will cause the PPWSA to expand. Is it enough to affect the price? Only investors can say,” he said.

Han Kyung Tae, managing director of Tong Yang Securities, the underwriter for the PPWSA’s initial public offering, said such large infrastructure works could only help PPWSA.

“Although I do not know exactly how those particular projects affect the PPWSA stock price, PPWSA’s business and profit are directly related to the city’s demand for water, and therefore such development projects certainly have a positive effect, first on the company’s earnings and in turn, the stock price in the long run,” he said.