The recent IPO of Triple-S, the local BlueCross BlueShield Licensee, and a demographic shift are fuelling investor interest in health sector as demand for health services is likely to grow in Puerto Rico.
Triple-S issued 14 million shares at $14.50 in early December -- since then the shares have appreciated approximately 24% as of the third week of January. As the largest health insurance company in Puerto Rico, the success of its IPO has served to attract the attention of analysts to the Puerto Rico health market. Analysts at Oppenheimer, Credit Suisse, UBS and Citigroup expect the company's shares to continue appreciating further in the following months, according to reports issued in January and covered by El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico's largest daily.
Furthermore, another development fuelling demand in this sector is the expanding population of residents 65 and older, the fastest growing segment of the population. This segment is expected to grow at an annual rate of at least 2.5% until 2010, whereas in the continental US the growth rate for that same age group is 1.7%.
The Puerto Rico Conference 2008 -- "Investment for Growth," to be hosted by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce from February 19 to 20 in San Juan, has two panels that will focus on the prospects for this market. In the first plenary session, Ramon Ruiz, CEO of Triple-S Management, will speak publicly for the first time about the company's IPO in December 2007 and what this means to its current and future operations. The second session is a concurrent one and will focus on the insurance and health market. It will include Rene Campo of Cooperativa de Seguros Multiples, one of the island's largest property and casualty companies; Dr. Richard Shinto, President of Aveta and CEO of MMM in Puerto Rico (MMM is the island's largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans); Socorro Rivas, president of Triple-S, the largest health insurer on the island; Maureen Spivack, Managing Director Global Healthcare UBS Securites; and Joaquin Rodriguez, Chairman of the Board & CEO of Grupo HIMA- San Pablo, one of the largest hospital companies in Puerto Rico. Grupo-HIMA is issuing $75 million in preferred stocks in Puerto Rico to finance its growth plans.
The Puerto Rico Conference, to be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, is aimed at presenting investment opportunities in Puerto Rico. "There are major developments taking place in the health and insurance industries that offer great opportunities to interested investors. That is why we included two sessions on the subject," said Francisco Rodriguez-Castro, Organizer and Chair of the Conference.
Source: Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce