Just when the speculation was beginning to die down, Michael Lee-Chin just sold 22 million of his NCB shares. What’s going on?

So, it seems like every week there’s something new happening over at NCB. Well, the latest news is that Board Chairman Micheal Lee-Chin has sold over 22 million of his shares in the company.

The notice on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s website said that a “connected party” from NCB Financial Group had sold the share.  NCB later confirmed that Lee-Chin was involved. 

He reportedly sold the shares when the stock’s price was around $68.  So that means he would have brought in around J$1.5 billion from the sale. That’s just under US$10 million.

The sale comes just weeks after Lee-Chin announced that he’s taking a three-month break from his role as NCB Chairman to focus on other projects. So of course, investors are getting even more suspicious.

And ever since the news dropped, NCB has been trying to calm investors.  According to the Group, the 22 million shares were less than 1% of NCBFG’s total outstanding shares, which are shares held by investors. Additionally, the bank said that those 22 million shares were only a small portion of what Lee-Chin owns.  He is still the majority shareholder in the company. 

And that’s a title the company says he intends to keep. They basically said even though the boss sold some of his shares, that’s his business and its business as usual over there.

As for why Lee-Chin sold the shares. Well, we had him on Taking Stock a couple weeks ago.  He told us that he’s been reevaluating his portfolio and making some adjustments. That’s why he sold his yacht and put his Grand Cayman mansion for sale, among other things.

Plus he’s also very committed to two passion projects in alternative cancer treatments and nuclear energy, which require heavy investment. 

But despite the explanation from NCB and Lee-Chin affirming that he still believes in the company, NCBFG’s stock prices dropped 2% last to close at $66.65. As I’m recording this video on June 19, NCB’s stock price is down almost 17% since the start of the year. 

NCB shareholders have also been antsy because the company hasn’t paid dividends in over two years.  The company said that they do intend to restart dividend payments but they have to balance shareholder returns with the long-term financial stability for the company.

Well, what do you guys think? Do you think there’s now to the Lee-Chin story or is it just a case of bad timing? Let me in the comments.

P.S. For those of you waiting to hear more about the mentorship with Lee-Chin, being organized by KRM, just hold tight a little longer.  We’re still waiting on a date from his team.  However, he has committed to doing four sessions with us over the next year!  I will be sending out a call for applicants once we confirm the date.