Spring Mortgage applies for listing on NSE

BusinessDay checks revealed that, with the permission of the council of NSE, the shares would be listed in the first quarter of 2008, which will bring the number of quoted mortgage institutions in the country to two.

Efforts, it was learnt that efforts were being made to take Spring Mortgage to the stock exchange after the close of the ongoing private placement offer to enable investors recoup their funds in good time. It is expected that investors would make 100 per cent return on investment (ROI) on listing.

Spring Mortgage Limited, in a bid to meet the N2.0 billion minimum capital base requirement for operators in the primary mortgage sector commenced a placement offer on November 5, 2007 to raise N3.48 billion. The company is offering for subscription 2.9 million units of ordinary shares of N1.0 each from its 3.0 billion units authorised share capital.

Net proceeds of the placement offer is meant to be invested in three major areas which are; upgrading of IT infrastructure, representing 25 per cent or N836.85 million of the net proceeds; branch expansion, 20 per cent or N669.48 million and N1.84million or 55 per cent of the net proceeds earmarked to boost working capital.

There are indications that the placement offer will record a reasonable oversubscription owing to the interest of the Cross River State government to own a substantial stake in the company.

Business Day checks also showed that the move by the government to own equity in the company was necessitated by the working relationship which both parties are about entering into.

Our source also disclosed that the company was about signing an agreement with the state government to provide affordable housing units for citizens of the state in Calabar. "This contract agreement is also expected to boost the earning capacity of the company and help it deliver on its promises to investors", the source added.

Spring Mortgage Limited is an indigenous pt, and property management.

While the company delivers on its core competence of providing excellent mortgage finance and property management solutions to help its customers achieve their dreams of acquiring their own properties, it also provides a range of consumer finance services focused on empowering people to reach their life’s goals.

The company’s community of corporate and individual customers, real estate partners and investors has come to rely heavily on it because they know that the company is more than just a mortgage bank.

The service level that has endeared customers to the bank is in line with the company’s mission of providing innovative and affordable mortgage solutions in every neighbourhood. Spring mortgage has a vision of becoming the leading provider of world-class mortgage finance services in Africa and a core purpose of providing mortgages that would empower/enable its customers have residences and investments that would create social stability, thus ensuring capacity development, under terms that would meet world best standards.