The Information Services Corporation office in Moose Jaw has been closed since Sept. 9.
The office was one of three, the others in Swift Current and North Battleford were also closed.
A news release from the Government of Saskatchewan controlled Crown corporation says customers are “encouraged to use online applications for Saskatchewan registry services at isc.ca” while customers requiring counter service can continue to book in-person appointments at ISC offices in Regina or Saskatoon.
The closures mark another reduction of government services and jobs to small cities by the provincial government.
This Scribbler estimates annual savings of about $750,000 from the three office closures.
ISC provides registration services for land titles, personal property, survey plans, maps and photos, court judgments, and corporations.
ISC was established 21 years ago, consolidating registry services from the several provincial departments.
In 2013 the Saskatchewan Party Government privatized the majority of the Crown Corporation, selling 60 per cent of the shares to the public for $147 million.
The shares closed at $16.70 cents on the first day of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They closed a penny shy of $28 on Oct.19 this year.
That was a pretty cool gain of 67 per cent in eight years, not counting the healthy annual dividends. Currently the dividend yields a not unrespectable 2.85 per cent.
The taxpayers’ 40 per cent stake in the company has increased to $490 million.
The shares hit a high of $31.75 earlier this year but have declined. With a higher price and lower dividend yield investors have taken profits.
A price-to-earnings ratio of 19.7 to 1 indicates a company growing earnings at 20 per cent a year – a mean feat for a company in the stodgy business of registering legal matters.
Earnings have grown 11.3 per cent since 2018 with revenues in 2020 of $136.7 million, up a mere eight per cent in three years. Small wonder that shareholders are selling off shares.
ISC has been a stable investment generating dividends for those buying shares.
An even better return came to those who bought at the low of $13.38 in 2016, receiving a 116 per cent plus dividends.
Some observers might say sale of the Crown’s 60 per cent of shares cost taxpayers $343 million, based on current share prices.
But that would not be correct.
ISC has made expansions in eight years that would likely have been impossible as a Crown corporation.
Contracts have been won to perform registry services in 12 jurisdictions from Yukon to the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Serbia, European Union, Jersey, Guernsey, Ireland, Ohio, Missouri and Nova Scotia.
Given the expertise and unique software needed for these registration services, ISC has considerable potential to win more contracts in the years ahead. Until it wins more of these and grows revenues more than three or four per cent a year as it has been, the shares certainly seem over-valued.
CAUTION: Remember when investing, consult your adviser and do your homework before buying any security. Bizworld does not recommend investments.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
