Press Release

THE National Stock Exchange last night off-icially launched its first foray into Queensland with the opening of a Gold Coast office, a move chief executive Richard Symon said could stem superannuation outflows from the city. The NSX, which controls a market capitalised at more than $1 billion, aims to have between 10 and 15 small to medium Gold Coast busin-esses listed over the next 12 months with each capital-raising averaging $5 million. Mr Symon said this was a start to plugging what he described as the city's superannuation 'cash drain'. "The superannuation guarantee becomes a cash drain in regional Australia," he said yesterday. "On the Gold Coast, for example, there are roughly 240,000 employees. "At a $50,000 average wage, $20 million a week is flying out of the region with very little capacity to grab that back. "It goes into the bigger Australian companies, and it goes into property. "Some of it does come back, but the ability for the fastest-growing sector of the economy -- that's small to med-ium enterprises -- to capture that money is diminished." Mr Symon yesterday add-ressed about 200 southeast Queensland business people and later a dinner, hosted by the Institute of Business Leaders, at Bond University. The event marked a turning point for the Gold Coast as a business hub and the latest leg of an ambitious national exp-ansion plan for the NSX. The Coast office, at Varsity Lakes, is one of two Queensland bases for the NSX. The secondary board, formed by the merger of the Newcastle and Bendigo stock exchanges, has also targeted the Sunshine Coast after moving into Wollongong and Geelong earlier this year. The Gold Coast office is being run in conjunction with Business Growth GC, a non-profit organisation headed by Adam Gallagher and partly funded by the city council. Mr Gallagher will be the NSX's Coast representative, although Mr Symon said demand for the exchange's services could lead to a more substantial presence in the city. "Adam becomes the conduit for helping businesses understand the opportunities the NSX can offer," he said. Mr Symon said the Coast had more than 40,000 registered businesses but only 28 were listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, the nation's main board. He said the benefits of a market listing included higher valuations, up to seven times earnings, compared with trade sales, usually struck at two to three times earnings. "Trade sales are also either all or nothing propositions for the (business) owner," he said. "By listing on an exchange, these owners are able to sell down over time, providing them with an exit strategy."