QUEENSGATE: QUEENSGATE Hotels & Leisure made its official debut on the AltX

QUEENSGATE Hotels & Leisure made its official debut on the AltX on12 Sep 2008, the first shares traded @ .23c just past 09:00 that morning. In celebration of this mile stone a Breakfast function was held at the JSE, amongst the attendees at this function were Russel Loubser (CEO JSE), Noah Greenhill (Senior General Manager: Marketing Business Development JSE), Queensgate Directors, Shareholders, Investors, Business Partners and Media.

Andrew Hubbard, Queensgate’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are excited to have listed Queensgate today and look forward to attracting increasing public and institutional interest in our company and share. Its our vision to be a premier listed hotel management company by exceeding industry standards through innovation and team excellence, ensuring the satisfaction of our guests and shareholders.”

Quote from Noah Greenhill (Senior General Manager, Marketing and Business Development, JSE Limited)

Commenting on the listing of Queensgate, Noah Greenhill, Senior General Manager, Marketing and Business Development, JSE Limited said: “We are delighted to have listed Queensgate on AltX today. We look forward to having them as a client on AltX and look forward to the company taking advantage of the opportunities in the leisure sector in South Africa.”

Queensgate was introduced to AltX by designated advisor Arcay Moela Sponsors. “We are proud to have brought Queensgate to AltX. The company is run by an experienced team and ably advised by a very strong board of non-executive directors. Queensgate is a solid company with exciting prospects,” comments Michelle Krastanov of Arcay Moela Sponsors.

As a partnership between the JSE Limited and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), AltX is Africa's first alternative exchange for small to medium and growing companies. As a Proudly South African organization, AltX offers smaller companies an opportunity to raise capital, issue new shares, widen their investor base and have their shares traded in a regulated market. In brief, this offers investors an exciting opportunity to invest in a wide range of high-growth quality companies.

AltX has a listing requirement for appropriate for small and medium companies, placing emphasis on initial and ongoing disclosure of company information. This is designed to appeal to the investor who understands the nature of such a market and who is prepared to accept the potential risks and rewards of investing in growing companies. Best practice principles are implemented to mitigate the potential risks associated with small to medium companies, including good corporate governance and rigorous market surveillance.

Why list on AltX versus the JSE Main Board? Well there are several benefits which include.

WHY QUEENSGATE HOTELS & LEISURE HAS OPTED FOR ALTX AND WHAT THIS MAY MEAN TO THE GROUP IN THE FUTURE

In growing Queensgate Hotels & Leisure’s revenue through organic growth and acquisitions, both which require added infrastructure and therefore an increased level of financial commitment, AltX offers a greater awareness (in a smaller sized camp) with the same emphasis placed upon marketing efforts of the JSE. In comparison to the main trading body of the JSE, AltX is well formed. Its proven liquidity offers a flexible environment for QHL, making potential acquisitions easy and cheaper.

To be listed on a stock exchange is an exciting and challenging process and needs to be monitored on a daily basis. To form a part of Queensgate Hotels & Leisure’s progress and success on AltX, you can monitor the progress of the share price by clicking on the following link:

More than a landmark, more than a forum for trading in stocks, bonds, and shares, the JSE stands tall as the engine-room of the South African economy. Companies from across the spectrum of industry and commerce gather to raise the public capital that will allow them to expand, in the process creating new jobs, products, services, and opportunities.

As their profits improve, so the dividends are passed on to their shareholders, in a cycle of economic empowerment that reflects the stability and well-being of a nation. But what do the ups and downs of market prices have to do with the everyday, ordinary South African? Plenty.

If you own an insurance policy, a retirement annuity, a unit trust, or even a simple savings account, the JSE is where much of your money goes to make more money for you. Directly or indirectly, the movements of the market matter to millions of South Africans, and that's why more and more South Africans are choosing the direct route to the market - by investing on the JSE.

In much the same way as you, choose a good lawyer, doctor, estate agent, or other professional. Seek advice, solicit opinions, ask for references, and then make up your own mind according to what kind of investor you plan to be. Some stockbrokers define a "small investor" as one with less than R1-million to invest; others welcome the minnows as well as the giants. Some focus on specific sectors of the market, such as mining; others spread their interests and options across the range. Some offer in-depth research and consultation for a higher brokerage fee; others offer discount rates for snappy advice and instant dealing.

A seasoned stockbroker with a good track record can become a powerful partner in the pursuit of wealth. In order for your stockbroker to buy shares on your behalf you will be required to have sufficient funds in your stock broking account to pay for them. On completion of a transaction you will receive confirmation from your stockbroker that the trade has taken place and that the share will be registered in your name and kept electronically on your behalf.

How will I know which shares to buy, also if and when to sell them?

Not immediately, anyway. Learning to tell good prospects from bad on the stock market is a skill, which requires copious amounts of insight, hindsight, and foresight, none of which can be acquired without settling down and doing your homework.
The best advice in the world is no substitute for legwork and research, whether it's reading the business papers, studying the annual reports, surfing the Internet, talking to your stockbroker, or picking up the phone and quizzing a Chief Executive about his company's plans for a merger or a listing. You'll need to monitor prices and keep in touch with trends, not only in business but also in politics and society, not only at home but also in the world.

An informed investor is a successful investor. An uninformed investor, acting on impulse, speculation, and the rumour mill, can also be a successful investor. But not for long. Get into the field and find out for yourself. That's how you'll know.

Aside from the prospect of dividends and long-term capital growth, what are the benefits of being a shareholder of a listed company?

The chief benefit is that you will have a voice and a vote in the running of the company. You will be able to attend meetings and make your feelings known. By speaking out, and asserting your right to be kept informed of appropriate developments, you may be able to influence direction and policy.

Your status will shift from consumer and observer to active role-player. You'll be able to take a direct, personal interest in the company, its products and services, and the industry in which it operates. You'll share its vision and its goals, along with any dividends that might come your way. No matter how small your shareholding, you'll be more than an investor.

For millennia, the peoples of our continent have traded in the riches yielded by the very rock and soil on which they lived. Ancient trade routes criss-cross Africa from the Atlantic shores to the Indian Ocean, from ancient Egypt to Southern Africa, humankind’s cradle.

But these routes are but physical manifestations of trade and communication. There was another way to converse, to trade thoughts and convey messages and it resonated in the very air that Africans breathed.

This was the drum – the very first telegraph system, an audio Internet that could communicate across valleys and plains in a literal heartbeat. So successful was this method that the drum became more than a musical instrument or a ceremonial trapping. For, in addition to its ability to exhort the weather gods, it became a token of commercial prosperity.

This is reason enough for AltX to adopt the drum as a symbol. But also because, figuratively, we’ve been beating the drum that says the future of business in this region lies in the small and medium sector.

The drum you see was carved by craftspeople from trees in the sacred mountains above Venda. Rather aptly, it was made by talented people using their own ability, ingenuity and resources. This is the very spirit of entrepreneurship and AltX.

So it’s only fitting that each time we welcome a new listing onto AltX, we now quite literally beat our own drum.