IMAGE Plus Consultants Limited, trading as Apex Radiology, had the distinction of being the first company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) in 2023 following its initial public offering (IPO) which was 204 per cent oversubscribed.

The listing, which took place on January 20 at the JSE’s head office, saw Image Plus become the 48th company to list on the Junior Market under the symbol IPCL. It was also the 101st company on the overall market, following the delisting of 1834 Investments Limited, and was the 152nd security on the overall JSE. The company also set history with the largest issuance of shares for a Junior Market company at $495.78 million, with $22.48 billion raised on the market since being launched in April 2009.

This pushed IPCL’s issued share count to 1,239,449,680 ordinary shares with a market capitalisation of $2.48 billion based on its $2 listing price. The Junior Market capitalisation also increased to $195 billion with the combined market cap standing at $1.88 trillion. IPCL’s offer was published on December 16 and closed on December 30.

IPCL’s first day on the Junior Market was marked by $4.03 million over 88 bids seeking to get shares in the medical imaging business, while there were 176 sell orders valued at $38.08 million aiming to sell shares just before the market opened. Unlike every other IPO last year, IPCL did not halt at open and trade upwards for two to four consecutive days. IPCL had 12,439,670 shares traded over 667 trades for the day valued at $26.39 million, with a high of $2.25. It closed at $2.12.

“In this offer our team members, 95 per cent of which had never bought stocks before, got the opportunity to participate in the work that they do every single day in the different areas of healthcare,” said executive director and Chief Executive Officer Kisha Anderson on the participation by team members in the IPO.

IPCL’s three reserved pools for employees, key stakeholders, and the broker were fully allotted while the general public was guaranteed 10,000 units and 35.68 per cent of the excess balance.

The second day of trading saw the stock price close at $2 with 7,813,398 shares valued at $15.65 million from 346 trades. The range for the day was $1.90 to $2.15, with $8.75 million over 27 bids available relative to the 327 ask orders valued at $103.26 million.

IPCL closed at $1.90 on Tuesday with 6,233,417 shares changing hands over 278 trades valued at $11.87 million. The best bid at the end of the day was $1.89 and best ask at $1.90 with shares trading between $1.80 and $2.00 for the day. Image Plus’s financial year ends on February 28 with shareholders set to see the audited numbers at the end of April or late May. The company’s shareholder base has increased from six to 5,271 shareholders.

While the JSE listing was a memorable time for JSE Managing Director Marlene Street Forrest, it also came against the backdrop of member-dealer Stocks and Securities Limited facing alleged fraud allegations. The JSE head highlighted that its subsidiary, Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD), would be introducing a new client customer portal by the end of this month to provide more information to member/dealer clients and for ease of queries. She also noted that there would be the introduction of alerts by the end of February that will be sent once the daily balance in the portfolio has changed, especially for shareholdings.