The Mayberry i nvestments Limited (MIL) camp is bubbling with confidence over the transformational initial public offering (IPO) for Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJEL), which is to be launched tomorrow.

The company’s main executives, including Executive chairman Christopher Berry, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gary Peart’s responses to questions raised by potential investors attending Wednesday’s Investors’ Briefing at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, expressed overwhelming confidence in their 2017 decision to make the offer in to unlock shareholders’ confidence in the company.

According to Berry, people have been confronting him frequently about making the right investment decisions, like, “How can they invest like me?”

So, he says the simple answer now is that the new IPO will give them an opportunity to actually invest like him, and Peart.

“I say, OK, this is what I do. So if you want to invest like me, this is your chance,” he noted.

MIL announced last weekend that, in confirmation of 2017 shareholders’s decision, it would be listing its subsidiary, Mayberry West Indies Ltd (MWIL), on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) under its new name, Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJEL), to increase benefits to its shareholders.

In order to facilitate the change, MIL paid out a dividend of 10 per cent of MWIL to all shareholders. At December 31, 2017 this dividend had a value of $688 million. However, by the end of the first quarter of 2018, it had swollen in value to $956 million or 39 per cent.

MIL then decided that in order to meet the listing criteria it would need to sell another 10 per cent to the public in an IPO during the first half of 2018 that would give preference to millennial investors, aged 19-29, as well as Mayberry Managed Equity Portfolio clients and Mayberry’s shareholders.

Berry has noted that with the Jamaican dollar being less volatile during 2017, closing the year with an annual depreciation of only 2.36 per cent, and the JSE main market appreciating by 50 per cent and the Junior Market by 5.34 per cent during 2017, the value of MWIL increased by 38 per cent allowing the company to achieve consolidated comprehensive income of $2.39 billion and equity exceeding $9 billion.

Berry and Peart also defended MIL’s aggressive approach to investment, which has been often criticised by conservative investment insiders who still believe in the old, safe methods of investing. He also explained the reasons behind the major investments to be pursued by the new company, which include Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL), Iron Rock Insurance, CPJ, Carib Cement, and Main Events,

“We are high on Jamaica and we are high on certain Jamaican companies that we believe will benefit from the growth in the (Jamaican) economy,” Peart confirmed.

Mayberry will be putting up to 120 million shares, inclusive of reserved shares, on the market on Monday and trading will continue through to July 30. Some 105 million shares are being reserved to meet applications from the priority applicants, including Mayberry MMEP clients and employees and up to 40 million shares for stockholders of Mayberry and other Mayberry clients, and up to 25,000,000 shares for millennials.

If any of the Reserved Shares in the relevant category are not fully taken up by the priority applicants in that category, then the excess shares shall be available for allocation to the general public, Mayberry says.

The company’s total assets grew to $12.44 billion for the 2nd quarter of 2018 compared to $7.28 billion for the comparative quarter 2017. This represents a $5.17 billion increase, or 71 per cent, in its asset base, due mainly to increased value in the quoted equities – Lasco Financial Services Ltd, Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Ltd, Supreme Ventures Ltd, Caribbean Cement Company Ltd, Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd and JMMB Group Ltd.

Total liabilities increased over the prior period by $900.95 million to $1.06 billion (557.9 per cent). The assets were funded in part by amounts owed to the parent company, which increased by $621.5 million. In addition, accounts payables moved from $134.8 million in June 2017 to $376.2 million at the end of June 2018, an increase of 179 per cent.

The company currently holds stock in more than 30 companies listed on the main and junior markets of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).

MJEL’S capital base remains in good standing, Mayberry has noted, resulting from higher profitability with a movement in retained earnings from $3.71 billion to $5.21 billion and fair value reserves of $4.6 billion up from $1.9 billion.