Additional two million shares to be purchased on open market

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited will be continuing its shares buy-back plan on the Jamaican stock market.

The Barbados registered, listed closed-end mutual fund has advised that the continuation of its repurchasing of the company’s shares is being executed in line with the existing Share Buyback Policy, which was previously announced.

Eppley Caribbean Property Fund, which comprises two segregated funds invested in real estate properties in the Caribbean and internationally, intends to purchase up to an additional two million shares on the open market in Jamaica from time to time. The purchase will be done using the company’s cash from the same segregated account for the share buyback.

At current value, the intended two million shares to be repurchased are worth J$80 million.

At yesterday’s trading, Eppley’s shares traded firm at J$40 per share with 10,961 shares exchanging hands.

The purpose of the share buyback is to unlock significant value for the company’s shareholders by acquiring shares at a price equivalent to or below its net asset value per share. This is in keeping with the strategy previously disclosed in the company’s prospectus and annual report.

The two funds operated by Eppley Caribbean Property Fund offer investors the opportunity to earn income and/or long term capital gains from a portfolio of properties. In recent times, a number of companies on the Jamaican stock market have engaged in shares buy back initiatives such as First Rock Real Estate Investments and Community & Workers of Jamaica Co-Operative Credit Union, to protect shareholder value in the respective companies.