Cambodia - Cambodian bourse in long-awaited first day of trade

PHNOM PENH: The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) finally began trading shares on Wednesday nine months after it officially opened, when a water monopoly became the first firm to list.

Trading symbolically started at 09:09 am local time (0209 GMT) -- the number nine is considered lucky in Cambodia -- and will finish at noon. Normal trading hours will be from 08:00 am until 11:30 am.

Cambodia launched the bourse to great fanfare in July 2011, after numerous delays because of the global financial crisis and regulatory hurdles.

But no firms were ready to list on the market -- a joint venture between the government and South Korea's stock exchange.

Now the formerly state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) is floating 13 million shares, or 15 per cent of the company, starting at 6,300 riel (US$1.57) per share.

The state will continue to own the remaining 85 per cent.

The firm's Initial Public Offering (IPO) last month was 17 times oversubscribed, an indicator of strong investor appetite for the long-awaited exchange, observers said.

Two more state-owned enterprises are expected to launch their IPOs later this year.

Stock quotations for trading must be in the local currency, the riel -- in line with the government's long-term goal to reduce reliance on the US dollar, which according to the Asian Development Bank makes up more than 90 per cent of all currency in circulation in the country.

But for the first three years, both buyers and sellers can arrange to settle payments in dollars at their agreement, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC).

While still among one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict as one of the region's rising economies.

It remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust means many people hoard their money at home instead of using banks.

- AFP/wm

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