Where can I find information about companies on the secondary board?

Tuesday 23rd April 2002

Q: I am currently looking at investing in a company who has shares to offer in a public pool. They are going to trade on the NZ stock exchange on the second board. My question is, once I have purchased these shares where can I obtain information on their buy/sell prices and keep track of how well they are doing? Is the second board info available in newspapers as well as the main index?

A: The Unlisted Securities Facility is also known as the NZSE's second board. Companies that trade on the second board are not bound by NZSE Listing Rules and are therefore often difficult to obtain information on. There are no up to the minute trading prices for second board companies.

One of your main source's of information will be from the companies half year & annual reports. Some second board listed company's do use CompanyWire to keep their shareholders informed, i.e. Synergy International. If you would like to be able to have access information on your company via this medium then you should suggest it to the company.

A number of broker websites will quote unlisted securities but don't have much other information about them. Several companies also have their own websites. Have a look at the Company Links section of ShareChat to see if a particular second board company website is listed.

Second Board company's can often be illiquid and settlement can take slightly longer than for listed companies, although this has improved dramatically in recent years. It's not all doom & gloom though - there are some success stories that have spent their lives on the second board, such as Kapiti Cheese.

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