Bell Equipment soars after trading mistake

16 Jan 2012

Some broker will be out of pocket today, having bought 10087 shares in industrial group Bell Equipment at 12.15pm on 10 January 2012 for R25, after 2000 shares in the heavy mechanised vehicle maker traded at 10.40am for R17,40.

The following trade came at 2.28pm, snapping up 2000 shares for R18.

But this was no sudden steep market loss and windfall gain, according to the JSE - rather it was just a trading mistake.

"In this particular instance (the broker) came to us and pointed out that it was an error," Richard Bone, assistant GM of surveillance at the JSE, said yesterday (10 January 2012). "As far as we are concerned, the trade stands ... a pillar of the market is certainty of trading," he said.

The broker remained anonymous to the market, he said, and when there was a mis-trade, what the broker did thereafter was purely for "his or his client's circumstances". The JSE acts only within certain "exceptional criteria" as prescribed in exchange rules, Bone said.

Bell Equipment saw headline earnings per share rocket 1066,7% in the year to last June, to 105c from 9c previously.

But CEO Gary Bell was bemused by the more than 47% jump in the share price in the space of a few hours yesterday. "There's no good reason behind it. I can't tell you what's going on. I thought there had to be some sort of error at the stock exchange."

Bell Equipment's rapid growth has been spurred by renewed mining activity.

In a trading statement late last month, it said its results for the year to last month were expected to show an improvement of at least 20% from those reported in the earlier 12-month period, due to improved trading conditions, particularly improved demand from the mining sector.

Source: Business Day

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za