Locally-owned telecoms provider CamGSM Plc’s shares have been quite actively traded since their late-June debut on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), closing last week at 3,000 riel ($0.73), soaring by 32 per cent against their issue price.

The price for CamGSM shares (ticker symbol: CGSM) then jumped by 10 per cent on July 10 to close at 3,300 riel, for a full market cap of 6.466 trillion riel, with 111,724 shares traded worth 368.689 million riel – versus the daily average of 221,792 shares worth 578.607 million riel.

For comparison, an average of 229,619 ACLEDA Bank Plc shares (ticker symbol: ABC) worth 4.847 billion riel were exchanged daily in the first 10 days of trading, from May 25, 2020 to June 5, closing at 19,840 riel, which represented a premium of 22 per cent over the 16,200-riel issue price.

With more than a quarter-century of operation under its belt, the Royal Group of Companies Ltd (RGC) member – which trades under the Cellcard brand – is one of Cambodia’s most experienced telecoms providers.

CamGSM on June 27 listed its Class A (voting) common stock on the CSX’s Main Board as part of plans to grow the company, bring cutting-edge technologies to the Kingdom, and support the government’s digital-economy ambitions.

This comes after CamGSM, which trades as Cellcard, announced the completion of the month-long initial public offering (IPO) – from May 2 to June 7 – reporting that it sold 9,271,206 shares at a price of 2,270 riel, raising around 21 billion riel or $5.2 million.

However, the firm had sought to bring in nearly six times that amount through the IPO, at $30 million, in a plan that had received approval in principle from the Non-Banking Financial Services Authority (NBFSA) Council on April 4.

This shortfall has been attributed to the timing of the IPO – which took place at the same time as Mengly J Quach Education Plc’s (ticker symbol: MJQE) – the accompanying uncertain and shaky global economic environment, as well as the dividend terms.

For context, CamGSM confirmed in a June 27 statement that “shareholders who are either Cellcard subscribers or non-resident are eligible for a seven per cent annual dividend, which will be paid quarterly for five years”.

SBI Royal Securities Plc served as the offering’s lead underwriter, or manager, with Royal Group Securities Plc as co-underwriter. These two companies are also linked to the RGC.

Speaking to The Post on July 9, Royal Group Securities CEO Seng Chan Thoeun primarily credited the high demand for CamGSM stock to the comfort that comes with a guaranteed seven per cent annual dividend return. The company’s operations, service quality, financial performance and corporate governance are all improving, increasing its appeal, he said.

At the bell-ringing ceremony on June 27, Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) director-general Sou Socheat described the listing as a reflection of the strides made in the Kingdom’s securities sector, and noted that CamGSM became the 10th firm to issue shares on the CSX.

“Cellcard’s listing will draw in more investment in the CSX from both local and foreign investors, supporting liquidity in the Cambodian securities market. I believe that this IPO will also encourage other business owners to choose the stock market as a means to raise funds to expand their enterprises, through an IPO or through bonds,” he said.