Locally-owned telecoms provider and Royal Group of Companies Ltd (RGC) member CamGSM Plc on June 27 listed its Class A (voting) common stock on the Cambodia Securities Exchange’s (CSX) Main Board as part of plans to grow the company, bring cutting-edge technologies to the Kingdom, and support the government’s digital-economy ambitions.
This comes after CamGSM, which trades as Cellcard, announced the completion of the month-long initial public offering (IPO), with 9,271,206 shares purchased at a price of 2,270 riel, netting around 21 billion riel or $5.2 million. The firm had received approval in principle from the Non-Banking Financial Services Authority (NBFSA) Council for the IPO on April 4.
At the bell ringing ceremony marking the official listing of Cellcard’s shares (ticker symbol: CGSM), CSX CEO Hong Sok Hour reaffirmed the telecom firm’s commitment to providing Class A shareholders with a guaranteed seven per cent annual dividend yield for five years.
“The CSX enables high-potential and qualified businesses to raise additional money from the general public for use in business expansion. In addition to giving businesses the funding they need to grow, this unique option boosts their reputation, increases investor and customer confidence, and offers tax perks,” he said.
RGC group chief operating officer Christopher Donald Tiffin stated at the ceremony that, by going public, Cellcard will be able to accelerate its growth, provide more products and advanced technologies, and increase the bar for customers to support development in the Kingdom’s telecoms industry.
He affirmed the group’s commitment to delivering long-term value to customers focused on network performance, service quality and innovation, as well as to generating growth in the Kingdom and furthering the digital-economy agenda.
In its more than 26 years of operation, Cellcard has provided a broad range of products and solutions to cater to the various needs of its “millions” of Cambodian customers, Tiffin said, underscoring that the listing reflects the telecoms firm’s strong performance and room for expansion.
At the same event, Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) director-general Sou Socheat likewise described the listing as a reflection of the strides made in the Kingdom’s securities sector. He noted that Cellcard became the 10th firm to issue shares on the CSX.
“Cellcard’s listing will draw in more investment in the CSX from both local and foreign investors, supporting liquidity in the Cambodian securities market. I believe that this IPO will also encourage other business owners to choose the stock market as a means to raise funds to expand their enterprises, through an IPO or through bonds,” he said.