02 September 2014

Hour Glass - Tick Tock and One Becomes Three

Interestingly, Hour Glass is planning to split its shares at a ratio of 3 shares for every 1 share held - see Hour Glass Announcement. All else being unchanged, that would mean that the share price will drop to one third the current price when that takes place. At about $1.80 per share right now, that would make it $0.60 per share thereafter.

While it could possibly make their shares more affordable for trading, I'm not sure that it offers any tangible benefit. $1.80 per share isn't that far out of reach for retail investors. This is unlike those Jardine shares that require tens of thousand dollars. Besides, the new lot size of 100 shares will kick in by Jan 2015. So it's only $180 to own 100 shares.

So what then is the real benefit to split now? I view with some serious concerns, particularly in light of the break-up of the husband and wife team that used to run this company. Their son is running it now. What does the future portend?

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