The Bermuda Stock Exchange Index continued to break records and soar upwards yesterday, reaching new heights as Bank of Bermuda shares hit another all-time high of $43.
The Royal Gazette/BSX index closed at 1,849.9, up 39.09 points after the second day running of $1 million trading.
The new-found excitement on the normally quiet exchange has come about after a boom in Bank of Bermuda shares.
After languishing at $28 for months, speculation that the bank could be released from ownership rules which restrict foreign investment to 40 percent has prompted a feeding frenzy.
Investors who bought stock at the 52-week low of $27.75 have seen each share increase in value by almost 55 percent.
The interest has come at the prospect of the Bank of Bermuda being exempted from the 60/40 ownership rule, and being able to go forward with plans to list on the Nasdaq as a way of raising more capital.
The bank has said all along that if it lists on the Nasdaq, it will not be able to guarantee that 60 percent of the bank is owned by Bermudians or Bermudian companies.
The bank's year-end results pushed the price up after the Cup Match holiday with millions of dollars changing hands since then.
The bank's investors are mainly local, and include pension plans, schools, churches, charities and community groups.
While Bank of Bermuda cannot speculate on its own share price, Alison Satasi, Vice President, Investor Relations Manager at Bank of Bermuda, said: "We have had a wonderful year with net income surpassing $100 million for the first time in our history.
"In addition, we believe that the strong performance of our core business combined with our planned secondary listing on a US stock exchange point to a very exciting future for the bank.'' The record-breaking for the bank and the BSX index started last Tuesday, after the price of the shares and the index had been creeping up for a month.
The bank reached its previous all-time record high of $40 in 1998 when a private member's bill allowing the exemption of the bank went before the House of Assembly. It was rejected and the price plummeted.
But it began creeping up again after the bank's management became more vocal about plans to raise more capital and increase share price.
The index has been breaking records almost every day since last Tuesday, when it broke its previous all-time high of 1,733.5931, set on May 22, 1998.
The only way is up: The Bermuda Stock Exchange Index is continuing to break all records. Above are the index figures for each day of trading from July 31 to yesterday, August 15.
BUSINESS BUC
