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NCB’s APO will open on May 6, 2024 and close on May 27th, 2024.

NCB is looking to raise around J$5 billion at the very competitive price of $65 a share which is a big discount. This $5 billion amounts to around 3 per cent of the NCB Financial Group with its lead principal and chairman Michael Lee Chin holding over 50 per cent of the Group’s shares.

What this APO works out to is 78.5 million shares at J$65 share with a reserve pool for NCB employees at J$58.5 a share. 

Lee Chin acquired NCB in 2002 when it was practically on its knees FINSAC’d and turned it into the country’s largest financial institution whose share price reached a high of  $200 just a few years ago. On acquiring NCB, Lee Chin and his team changed the institution’s mantra to”  NCB, Building a Better Jamaica”, inextricably linking NCB’s fortunes to that of Jamaica. 

Last year, Lee Chin decided to recalibrate NCB, changing its entire management team and leading from the front, inculcating a new approach, “ Efficiency, Governance and  Customer Experience (EGC) would now be its North Star.  NCB hit the road in January this year looking to build wealth creation for individuals, corporates and Government. 

Speaking with Our Today, NCB Financial Group’s CEO Robert Almeida said: “In July of last year we commenced the next chapter of the life of the NCB Group. At that time we invested in digital and building up capital which was accomplished at the expense of dividends and our customer experience suffered. We then announced that the ECG framework would guide us through this next chapter.

In the last eight months, we have strengthened operational and capital efficiency. We reduced expenses by over J$8 billion per annum. We reallocated about J$15 billion of capital within the Group and entered into an agreement to divest NCB Cayman. 

Under Governance we focused on the golden rule, do unto others as you have them do unto you. Across all our stakeholders we increased communication. We made changes to strengthen the competencies as well as the independence across the board of directors. We delayered management so that the strong and committed leadership team we now have is focused, accountable and they are closer to the customer. One of the most important things is that we are building an ownership culture. We want to see a culture of ownership within our staff so we mitigate the principal/agent problem that plagues all organisations. Our staff now have to think like an owner.”

NCB promised to restore dividends and it kept its promise just in time for Christmas, thus making its shareholders happy. It set about increasing capital and putting in place measures to reduce its debt.

Almedia continued: “We focused on truly listening to our customers and getting the basics right like improving service at our ABM network (NCB holds 40 per cent of the country’s ABMs). Our Group Chairman and our executives are on the road, in the towns, in the fields talking with customers and addressing their needs. We are the leading provider of banking, payments, insurance, wealth management, pensions and capital market services in the region. Our number one asset is scale and it is our biggest opportunity. It is important that we manage it right. We are focused on being better than everyone else and being brilliant at the basics. We are ready for the next stage of the transformation. Our purpose is wealth creation for the Caribbean.” 

Chairman Michael Lee Chin added, “Wealth creation requires ownership. You can’t create wealth by being a spectator. Owning NCB is the best way to own a piece of Jamaica. We have been talking about it for a while and this is the right time for NCB to launch an APO. This will give the people of Jamaica a chance to own a piece of “The Rock” while enabling NCB to further increase our financial flexibility and resiliency by reducing debt, strengthening capital and without compromising our ability to invest in growth while maintaining dividends.

“We are launching our APO and the prospectus is now available. The price is exceptionally attractive. It is all about wealth creation. When I bought NCB, the share price was around J$2.00. We grew NCB, putting efficiencies in place that saw the share price climb to J$200. It then came back down to J$65. This is a second opportunity for Jamaicans to recognise, one of the best ways for Jamaicans to create wealth is to invest with someone who has a track record of creating wealth. it’s as simple as that. When you do this, you are tapping into their know-how, their passion and their track record. You then become aligned with them. Jamaicans now have an opportunity to invest with Michael Lee Chin. 

“If you could invest with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Butch Stewart, someone with a track record of creating wealth, what should you do with that opportunity? I still own over 50 per cent of NCB so anyone who buys shares in NCB, we are totally aligned and they are 100 per cent right beside me, co-investing with me. This is a good time because the price is right and you are only seeing one-half of NCB Financial Group. We are in 22 countries and we are dominant in Trinidad with insurance as we are in Jamaica with banking.”

NCB Financial Group is in the enviable position of having a major banking institution and a major insurance institution which places it as a top player in the Caribbean. It is a powerful combination which makes NCB indigenously unique. NCB’s strategy therefore is to leverage that scale and to create a one-stop shop solution for customers. It’s a one-two punch.

Lee Chin continued, “I would like to see every Jamaican buy at least the minimum take-up which is 100 shares at J$65, which comes to J$6,500. It doesn’t matter if you are a vendor in Coronation Market or a maintenance worker, buy NCB, not just because Jamaicans will create wealth, but because Jamaicans must join the investing process. Jamaicans must create wealth for their families.  This is an opportunity for Jamaicans to become investors. We want to make every Jamaican a better owner of assets, that’s how wealth is created.

“Think about it, what other asset is out there that you can buy for J$6,500? What can you buy for J$6,500 that allows you to participate in the growth of your country? Nothing!  Our people in Jamaica must think about owning. We need to teach our people to be better owners. 

This may be the opportunity to revitalise a sluggish equities market in Jamaica.

“NCB is the people’s bank therefore the people should own the bank.  There’s a saying “If you buy the milk, you should own the cow.” I call on all Jamaicans to participate in our APO.”