Inaugural share trading was “steady” yesterday in Building
Society Holdings Ltd, the parent company of the proposed
“heartland” bank.

Its shares opened at 95c yesterday but declined to their
listing price of 88c, which was the weighted average for the
day on almost 300,000 shares changing hands.

Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said the
trading was a “steady start” for the shares, but he noted
only 28% of the 300 million shares on issue were tradeable,
as majority shareholder Pyne Gould Corp (71%) was yet to make
a distribution of its Building Society shares to its
shareholders.

At 88c, Building Society remains valued at $264 million.

The listing follows a year-long merger of CBS Canterbury, the
Southern Cross Building Society and subsidiary of Pyne Gould
Corp Marac Finance, in preparation for applying for a banking
licence.