The listing date, before scheduled, of Amata Holding Public Co., Ltd. (AMATA on Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) would be postponed for a certain period. And the rescheduled listing date announced in due time, according to the YSX notification on 26 February 2021. After scrutinizing submitted application documents and a deliberate listing examination, YSX approved the Amata Holding Public Co., Ltd. (AMATA) to be listed on YSX under Section 41 (c) of the Securities Exchange Law and Section 7 and 8 of the Securities Listing Business Regulations, on 28 December 2020. Earlier, it was scheduled to debut on the exchange on 12 March.
AMATA is the very first hotels and tourism sector to be listed in the equity market. The base price of AMATA will be announced on the YSX website one working day before the listing date. On 18 July 2018, the company issued a prospectus in which 596 investors held 497,598 shares at an offering price of K5,000 per each unit. AMATA would be the seventh public company to list on the exchange. As per the company’s profile, AMATA is a public holding company and operates a resort in Ngapali Beach, Inle Lake and Bagan, and a hot-air ballooning business with 15 balloons in six cities. AMATA owns 99.99% share from United International Group Co., Ltd and 51% shares from Myanmar Ballooning Co., Ltd.
At present, shares of six listed companies — First Myanmar Investment (FMI), Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (MTSH), Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB), First Private Bank (FPB), TMH Telecom Public Co. Ltd (TMH) and the Ever Flow River Group Public Co. Ltd (EFR) — are being traded on the exchange. On 26 February 2021, the share prices of FMI were closed at K9,300 per unit, MTSH at K3,500, MCB at K8,200, FPB at K22,000, TMH at K2,800 and EFR at K3,350, respectively. Usually, over K60 million worth of shares were traded on the exchange every day. The COVID-19 impacts cooled down the market. The stock markets worldwide have reported their largest declines since the 2008 financial crisis.
Similarly, the local equities market is also scared by the COVID-19 crash, a market observer points out. At present, people are keeping emergency savings rather than investing amid the COVID-19 crisis and current political conditions, he added. Next, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) has allowed foreigners to invest in the local equity market from 20 March 2020. Furthermore, YSX launched a pre-listing board (PLB) on 28 September 2020 to provide unlisted public companies with fund-raising opportunities and build a bridge toward listing on YSX, YSX stated. The YSX was launched four years ago to improve the private business sector.
It disseminates rules and regulations regarding the stock exchange and knowledge of share trading through stock investment seminars. The stock exchange has also sought the government’s support to get more public companies to participate in the stock market and help more institutional investors, such as financing companies, investment banks, and insurance companies, to emerge. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Myanmar’s securities market has been able to continue operating without stopping trading. According to the annual report released by the exchange, a total of K12.6 billion worth of 1.87 million shares by six listed companies were traded on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) in 2020, a significant drop compared to 2019. Over 2.4 million shares from five listed companies, valued at K13.39 billion, were traded on the exchange in 2019.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar