FOLLOWING its suspension on August 21, iCreate Limited’s ordinary shares resumed trading yesterday as the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) deemed the company to have resolved its existing breaches.

iCreate had been suspended due to the delay in submitting its 2022 audited financial statements, which were eventually published on September 30. However, the JSE then maintained the suspension over the absence of a mentor, in keeping with Junior Market rules. In a release published on Monday iCreate appointed Colando Hutchinson as its new mentor with immediate effect, wherein he will serve as a compliance advisor and provide guidance to the iCreate group of companies.

“In the search for a mentor it was important to identify an individual who was best suited to the particular needs of the company. As the new leadership team continues to build and strengthen the board, management teams, and internal controls of the company and its recently acquired subsidiaries, Mr Hutchinson’s appointment is timely based on his strong executive leadership experience and expert knowledge in several areas in the financial services industry,” stated the iCreate release.

Hutchinson currently serves as an executive consultant to several financial institutions, including Sterling Asset Management Limited. He was once the deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of VM Wealth Management Limited, up to January 2021. VM Wealth was the broker involved in several iCreate transactions last year, including the financing to close the acquisition of Visual Vibe.com Limited which closed on May 31.

While iCreate has been admitted back to trading, the suspension has resulted in the company becoming liable to pay any taxes remitted under the Junior Market Income Tax Amendment Act 2016. Under Section 3 (2), any company which is suspended or delisted from the Junior or Main Market before the expiration of a 15-year period after listing is immediately liable to pay all income tax it would have been liable to pay from the time of initial admission, had it not been granted the incentive.

Although iCreate’s audited financial statements don’t reveal any tax remissions, the company’s first five-year window is coming to an end on January 31, 2024, which resulted in it benefitting from a 100 per cent tax remission. It will be subject to a 50 per cent tax remission on the normal 25 per cent tax rate for the remaining five-year window. iCreate is currently chaired by Ivan Carter and operated by interim CEO Arlene Martin.

iCreate’s second-quarter financials showed consolidated revenue of $43.79 million and a net loss attributable to shareholders of $138.49 million, which is largely related to the additional acquisition costs of Visual Vibe.com. iCreate’s total assets grew to $690.09 million with cash and cash equivalents of $5.58 million, with net cash of $3.21 million after a bank overdraft. Total liabilities grew to $351.12 million with the $211.77-million acquisition of subsidiary payable related to Visual Vibe making up the bulk of the liabilities. Equity attributable to shareholders was $319.03 million.

iCreate halted down to $0.79 at 9:33 am on Tuesday before it reopened for trading an hour later when investors continued to sell. There were 22 trades with 360,086 shares changing hands valued at $288,505.85. The best bid at the end of the day was $0.80 with 16 overall bids, with the lowest at $0.01. The best ask was $0.85, with seven ask orders, with the highest at $1.10. The third-largest ask order was greater than all the shares traded for the day.

While the JSE sent the brokers and users of https://Jtraderpro.jamstockex.com notification of iCreate’s resumption of trading on Monday, there was no disclosure by the JSE nor iCreate on the JSE’s website before the market opened on Tuesday of the material event. Thus, several investors are possibly unaware of the new development.

iCreate’s shares traded down 22.33 per cent to $0.80 as investors sought to access liquidity and close their positions. iCreate last traded at $1.03 on August 21 when it was down 42 per cent year to date (YTD). The decline in price today leaves it down 54.80 per cent YTD and among the worst-performing securities on the market.