The Rock seeks capital

The Rock Building Society will look to its ordinary shareholders to raise capital to support its refreshed growth strategy.

In conjunction with publication of the profit yesterday the Rockhampton-based lender announced a share purchase plan under which shareholders may buy up to $15,000 of shares at $2.36 and a discount of 20 per cent to five day average share price prior to yesterday.

The Rock aims to raise between $5 million and $8 million, equal to a fifth of the current level of net assets at the high end.

The capital raising is partially underwritten by Capricorn Investment Partners, a financial planning firm in Rockhampton previously owned by The Rock.

The choice of underwriter is interesting, given a couple of activist trade and institutional investors that may still be buyers of shares.

Queensland Trustees and Investment disclosed in July that it holds about 3.9 per cent of the shares in The Rock. Kerry Daly, a former managing director of The Rock, is a non-executive director of QTI.

FirstMac, a Brisbane-based non-bank lender, used to own a three per cent stake and may still do so. It was unsuccessful in electing a director to the board last year.

Meanwhile, The Rock reported that profit fell marginally over the year to $4.3 million. Loans fell 13 per cent though deposits are picking up once again now that The Rock is marketing more effectively outside central Queensland.

The government guarantee on retail deposits will also have helped. This in turn may assist the quest for more wholesale deposits that is at the core of The Rock's revised strategy.

The Rock continues to choose not to recognise unrealised losses on a collateralised debt obligation of $4 million tied to loans of US financiers such as AIG, Ambac, Countrywide and Washington Mutual. The directors continue to insist the CDO is not impaired, and any notional losses may be lessening in line with current market trends.