Long read.
Cambodia's stock market marks a milestone amid crisis
Local bank's IPO is set to triple total market cap despite COVID-19 impact
SHAUN TURTON, contributing writer
May 12, 2020 15:06 JST

PHNOM PENH -- After languishing for years with fewer than half a dozen listed companies, the Cambodia Securities Exchange is set for a "game changing" IPO by one of the country's largest domestic banks.

Acleda, Cambodia's biggest lender by gross loan portfolio, will become the sixth company to trade equity on the small bourse when it lists in May or early June, and only the third non state-owned firm.

The bank -- which has decided to push ahead with its listing despite the COVID-19 pandemic -- will be the exchange's first financial institution and is set to triple the CSX's market capitalization, which hovered around $600 million in April.

"It is a really big deal. We are thinking it will be a game changer in the Cambodian securities market," Jong Weon Ha, vice-chairman and COO of CSX, told the Nikkei Asian Review at the CSX building in Phnom Penh.

"We need more equity. Many companies do not list on our exchange, so this is a big problem. This is a big commercial bank in Cambodia, it's a big event. We will receive a lot of focus from the public and the foreign investors."

The CSX was launched in 2011 as a joint venture split 55/45 between Cambodia's Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Exchange. The first company to list, the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, held its IPO in 2012, but the surrounding buzz soon fizzled, and after an initial surge, the government-owned company's stock fell below its initial offering price, where it remains.

Since then bourse has added just four companies: the local subsidiary of a Taiwan garment manufacturer, the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, and the two government-owned operators of the ports in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

In recent years, it has also listed corporate bonds for six companies, including microcredit providers and a transport firm. The most recent, and biggest, was earlier this month, when PRASAC Microfinance Institution raised 127.2 billion riel ($31.8 million) from three investors -- Malaysia's Hong Leong Bank, Prudential Insurance and Shinhan Bank.

But attracting companies and building liquidity in the capital market has remained a challenge. In last year's fourth quarter, the CSX's daily average trading value was $157,045. By comparison, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange -- which has 381 companies -- averaged 3.93 trillion Vietnamese dong ($169.27 million) per day in the first six months of 2019.

Cambodia's northern neighbor Laos, meanwhile, has 11 listed companies with a market capitalization of some $922 million.

A barrier for adding new local companies has been reporting requirements. In Cambodia's opaque business environment, many family-owned businesses are unable, and some unwilling, to meet the transparency requirements needed to list.
Full article: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Market ... mid-crisis

19 June 2020
Market watch:

Cambodian Securities Exchange:
The index remains at 698.13 because the local bourse was closed yesterday to observe Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk’s birthday, the market will resume normal operations tomorrow. (sic)
The Cambodian Securities Exchange trades between 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, excluding all national holidays.
KT

CSX is not a serious market. The articles lists current reporting requirements might be a barrier to family owned companies listing? So the solution is what? Lower the amount of reporting so mom and pop companies can join?

Their current reporting requirements are nothing close to what the SEC mandates for US companies. Without open information, only big players with inside info will continue to invest.

Look at some of the companies listed. One has like 3-4 investors - overseas banks, government entities, etc. None of the burgeoning Khmer middle class has joined the CSX. And not in droves like in the US.

Will the powers that be change the CSX more in-line with international markets? Only time will tell. But I wouldn’t count on it in the short term.

PESTECH Listed in Cambodia Stock Market
AKP Phnom Penh, August 12, 2020 --

PESTECH (Cambodia) Plc., a subsidiary of Malaysia-based PESTECH International Bhd, listed today its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), becoming the 13th securities-listed company in Cambodia.

The official listing ceremony was held in the presence of H.E. Sou Socheat, Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC), and H.E. Hong Sok Hour, CEO of CSX.

PESTECH (Cambodia) is the 13th securities-listed company on the CSX, having a total number of listed shares of 74,945,000 with the IPO price of 3,120 Riel (US$0.76) per share and the stock symbol of “PEPC”.

The total gross proceeds from the IPO amount to approximately US$3 million (12.308 million Riel).

H.E. Hong Sok Hour welcomed the firm to issue stock in the market so that the firm can raise more funds via issuance of more shares on the bourse.

“With listing at the CSX, the firm can raise fund from issuing shares to expand business operation and can earn strongly confidence from potential investors both local and foreigners,” H.E. Hong Sok Hour said.

“For investors, the PESTEC listing on the CSX provides more options of investment in the stock market over the existing listed firms for investment and those investors can have chances to invest in the listed company like PESTEC that grows fast in business,” he added.

PESTECH (Cambodia), operating in the Kingdom since 2010, has built some of the largest and important electrical transmission infrastructures, including the 110-kilometre line connecting Phnom Penh-Kampong Cham, the 125-kilometre line connecting Kampong Cham-Kratie and one of the 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines in Cambodia for the 190-kilometre Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville transmission line which was commissioned in January 2020.

As of Aug. 12, there are 13 listed firms in the Kingdom – seven stock-listed and six corporate bond-listed.

By Chea Vannak
AKP

Data update from csx, 15 September 2020.

http://www.csx.com.kh/data/member/listPosts.do

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:19 pm Chinese-invested Sihanoukville SEZ prepares for listing on Cambodia’s bourse
By Xinhua Net -
June 21, 2019
Chinese-invested Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) is preparing for listing on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), according to a SSEZ’s statement on Thursday.

The statement, released to the media by the CSX, said the SSEZ aimed to go public in order to raise more funds to promote the development of the zone and to make greater contributions to the development of Cambodia’s industrial economy.

“Through the upcoming listing, all shareholders will get benefit from the zone’s development, and this is a win-win situation,” it said.
In full: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-0 ... 159425.htm

UPDATE on the SSEZ Listing

SSEZ Unveils Stock Market Listing Plan
AKP Phnom Penh, November 19, 2020 --
Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone Co., Ltd. (SSEZ) has unveiled its plan of listing the firm in Cambodia stock exchange, aiming to raise more funds to expand operation, as more foreign enterprises have built their factories in the zone.

The plan was made known in a recent meeting here between H.E. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister, and Mr. Chen Jiangang, Chairman of the Board of SSEZ, according to the firm's statement.

In the meeting, Mr. Chen asked H.E. Hor Namhong to support the development of SSEZ, especially in its listing on the Cambodian Securities Exchange.

Mr. Chen also shared his attribution to the freshly-signed free trade agreement between Cambodia and China.
The signature of China-Cambodia FTA Agreement and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement could bring new opportunities for the development of SSEZ, he said.
https://www.akp.gov.kh/post/detail/222252

January 22, 2021
MARKET WATCH
CSX Index drops again

The CSX index recorded another drop (0.19 percent), ending the day at 642.75 points yesterday.

Total trading was slow, with the days total value at closing being just 88.2M riels.

No t a single stock recorded an increase on the day’s trading.

PWSA, PPAP and PPSP each saw drops of 200 riels, 20 riels and 10 riels to close at 6,000 riels per share, 11,700 riels per share and 1,450 riels per share repectively.

GTI, PAS, ABC, and PEPC all held steady at 3,400 riels, 13,980 riels, 16,900 riels, and 3,000 riels respectively.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50806149/market-watch-142/