In spite of a downturn in share trading, the Barbados Stock Exchange has said that it will be pressing ahead with its programme to get more Barbadians acquainted with investing in shares.
In a commentary on the way forward, BSE officials said that the organisation remains "steadfast" in its goal to educate all Barbadians about the benefits of equity investing, and the Exchange has recently completed two additional educational brochures entitled ‘Shares 101’ and ‘Guide for Investors’ to further assist in this regard.
General manager, Marlon Yarde, has maintained a programme in a major public outreach programme to demystify share trading at a time when the number of local shareholders has increased.
“We fully believe that the seeds planted during this educational programme will bear tangible fruit in the future,” stated the BSE.
The BSE’s half year results during the first six months of 2006 show trading activity on the market having declined, in comparison to the same period in 2005. The Regular Market and the Odd-Lot Market had declines in both volume and value, while the Put-Through Market reflected an increase in volume, but had a decline in the value traded.
A total of 6.7 million shares, valued at $33.4 million, were traded for the six months to June 2006 on the BSE. The corresponding figures for 2005 were 16.1 million shares traded for a value of $94.4 million. Sagicor topped both the volume and value of shares traded in those six months, with 2.6 million shares valued at $8.8 million.
There are 26 companies listed on the BSE. For the half year ended June 30, 2006, 7 securities advanced, 10 declined, 3 traded firm, 5 did not trade and 2 were under suspension. This compares to 17 securities advancing, 5 declining, 3 not trading and 1 suspended for the same period in 2005.
According to the BSE: “The first six months of 2006 have been challenging for the Barbados Stock Exchange. Like the other major exchanges in the region, the rapid growth of the indices, which occurred for the greater part of the last two and a half years, has given way to a decline in market performance.”
"It had long been accepted that Barbadians tended to be risk averse when it comes to investing in equities. This could have been attributed to a lack of knowledge about investing and as a result, many myths and misconceptions existed among the general public,” said the BSE.
However, since the 1990s, the number of shareholders in Barbados has increased significantly. That process was aided first by an initial public offering by the then CIBC West Indies Holdings Limited and Life of Barbados Limited.In addition, the Government’s decision to partially privatise the Barbados National Bank and the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited provided more opportunities for share ownership, as did the demutualisation by the Barbados Mutual (now known as Sagicor Financial Corporation).
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