Shares in Playa Hotels & Resorts rallied at the top of the week following an announcement by Playa to buy back its own shares.

The rally, so far, has restored about US$1.4 million in the value of Sagicor Group Jamaica’s holdings in Playa as its second-largest shareholder with a 13 per cent stake in the hotel management company.

However, Sagicor, whose interest is split 9.4 per cent to Sagicor Real Estate X Fund and the rest in Sagicor Group, still has a deficit of around US$78 million to climb out of in order to regain ground lost on the stock since it sold its resorts to Playa in exchange for cash and shares in the Mexican company.

The loss, albeit unrealised as Sagicor has no plans to exit its position in Playa, still factors into the operations of Sagicor X Fund’s financials, which already booked a $1.34-billion net loss for the September 2018 quarter arising from the fall in the Playa stock price.

Consequently, the share repurchase by Playa was welcomed by Sagicor Group Chairman Richard Byles, who is one of the two Jamaican representatives who gained seats on the Playa board. The other is Sagicor Group CEO Christopher Zacca.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20181219/byles-gives-thumbs-playa-share-buyback-sagicor-recoups-some-losses-only#.XBoyN0v1814.email