South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPX) is hoping to increase its market capitalisation (market cap) in the near future.

The current market cap is $3.62 billion.

This was revealed by SPX chair Dr. Nur Bano Ali at the office opening ceremony at Sabrina Building, Victoria Parade in Suva on Friday, June 14.

Market capitalisation, commonly called market cap, is the market value of a publicly traded company’s outstanding shares. It is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding for a company.

Dr Ali said moving into their new office has been a deliberate strategy to gain more prominence and visibility and to reach out to their investors.

“The outdoor display screen as most of you are aware completes the look of a stock exchange globally,” Dr Ali said

“Fiji now joins the world in achieving its imagery and visibility as a stock market and the new brand also adds to a progressively modern look and feel to our Exchange as the barometer for a modern economy.

“SPX is a private company. It has eight (8) shareholders of which one is a government owned entity the Fiji Development Bank (FDB) and one a quasi-government entity, the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF).

“Government has been providing funding for the operations and development of the Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has been supporting the capital markets development initiatives.”

“Having a total capitalisation of $3.62 billion now compared less than $1million in market capitalisation back in 2012, does demonstrate how the stock market in Fiji has progressed and the favourable returns it has generated to the listed company investors.

“The Exchange continues to work on raising awareness and education about its activities to the general public of Fiji and this easy access to our office will achieve that for us.

She said: “The Exchange wants to provide easy access to the public as an alternate form of financing and savings as an option. Investing in shares is as good as earning interest in the bank and with no taxes on dividends earned on your investment in shares, it is a great reason for anyone to invest into shares.

“The stock ticker display screen is going to become a key feature for SPX from now on.

“The screen will be showing a live share price display of all SPX listed entities and some video advertisements.

“The investment in this massive infrastructure now associates us well with overseas stock exchanges technological infrastructure and we anticipate that the stock ticker screen will create inquisitiveness amongst our people to learn and understand the dynamics of stock market operations.

“We thank the Government for its continuous encouragement through tax incentives and funding support.

“With that support we the board and team at the Exchange are mindful of creating new revenue streams and promoting more listings and thereby moving towards achieving a self-sustaining entity into the future.”

She added that they wanted Fijians to learn and understand the dynamics of stock market operations.