Archives for July 2013

FX: US$10m more buying than selling

July 31, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 31 July 2013 | The forex market was quite buoyant on Wednesday as selling of foreign currencies was far less than buying with the equivalent of US$46.95 million bought and only US$37.15 sold.

The selling rates eased by 1 cents for the US dollar and 79 cents for the Canadian and was up 50 cents for the Pound, which saw more selling than the amount purchased by £300,000, there was US$10 million less selling than buying. The Canadian dollar saw C$1.36 being purchased versus C$882,000 sold. Buying rate for the US dollar climbed by 13 cents to $101.36, the Canadian slipped by 93 cents to $97.35 and the Pound was off by 38 cents to $153.58.

The highest and lowest rates for the three main currencies were most soft with the US dollar increasing 30 cents on the highest buy rate but was flat for the lowest buy and the highest buy rates and fell back by $15.16 on the lowest selling rate. The Canadian fell for both buying rates by $1.10 and 74 cents respectively there was no change to the highest selling rate but the lowest rose by 75 cents to $96.50. All the rates for the pound fell between $4.82 for the highest selling rate to 74 cents for the lowest buy rate.

JSE: Declining stocks on top

July 31, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 31 July 2013 | The Jamaica market closed today with stocks of 26 companies trading as a volume of 3,441,374 valued at $23.9 million traded. Only 5 stocks advanced to 10 declining as all the indices with trading lost altitude.

The day brings to an end a month when for every week there were net declines in the market, which is a carryover from June when only one in 4 weeks recorded a net gain. The results of companies now being released will have a telling impact on prices over the next several weeks. The signs are there. Grace which posted a 41 percent increase in the second quarter results moved back up today in price, Lasco Manufacturing lost its zest with a 10 percent decline in profits while Lasco Financial with a 50 jump in first quarter profits looks as if it will go higher.

Trades of note Main Market | The all Jamaica Index shed 247.46 points to close at 86,625.92 and the JSE market index fell by 140.64 to close at 86,063.98.

Cable & Wireless traded 643,455 units between 14 cents and 15 cents but closed at 14 cents. Carreras was again dominant in the market with a volume of 171,767 units valued at $8.6 million. Desnoes & Geddes chipped in with 126,748 units and closed at $4.70, the same as Tuesday’s last selling price. Grace Kennedy saw $7.6 million being expended on 135,000 shares as the stock regained yesterday’s loss by putting on $2.90 to close at $56.50 in response to the strong second quarter results. Jamaica Broilers had just 52,971 units trading and closed at $5. Mayberry enjoyed a day of trading when 332,000 units crossed the exchange at $2.60. Sagicor Life gained 40 cents to close at $9 with 66,145 units changing hands. Supreme Ventures traded 80,250 units closed at $2.90 and lost 10 cents in the process. National Commercial Bank and Scotia Group traded relatively light volumes and their closing prices were stable.

Junior market | 9 stocks in the junior market traded with 3 advancing and 3 declining. Lasco Manufacturing traded 1 million units and closed at $1.45 losing 15 cents in the process. Lasco Distributors traded 256.900 units and closed at $1.50 while Lasco Financial traded 148,186 shares gained just 4 cents to $1.60. General Accident had 270,446 shares changing hands and closed at $1.96. No other major trades took place.

Eppley shares that were listed on Monday is yet to have a bid and offer to date.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows that bids for an elevated 8 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

Results ticker | Paramount Trading released audited results to May showing profit of $73,348,356 versus $53,374,640 in 2012 after tax. Carreras suffered a major reversal in its fortunes with a major drop in profit after tax for the first quarter to June this year, which is down by 40 percent to $485 million compared with the same quarter last year $806 million.

Barita Investments showed vastly improved numbers for the June quarter with profits up with $98.899 million compared to $48.46 million. The results swung the loss for the year to date at the end of the second quarter to a profit at the end of the latest quarter.

Salada Foods reports lower profit in the June quarter than for the same period last year. Profit came in at $42 million after tax and $95.4 year to date versus $52.49 and $106.6 respectively.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, JSE Company, Trading Activity

TTSE: TCL climbs

July 31, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 31 July 2013 | In one of the more active days on the Trinidad Exchange 1,684,120 shares traded at a value of $8,385,411 as 10 securities traded of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 3 traded firm.

Trinidad Cement, which closed with the price jumping to $1.51 at the close, was by far the most dominant trade with 1,073,792 shares changing hands for a value of $1,438,904. The stock price, which is up 59 percent since IC Insider placed a buy rated signal on it, still has much room to run as it is selling at a very low PE ratio of around 2.5.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 355,100 shares for $152,693 as the stock shed 2 cents to close at $0.43. One Caribbean Media, another IC Insider buy rated stock, accounted for 120,500 shares with a value of $2,170,205, while Ansa Merchant Bank added 101,124 shares valued at $3,903,386. Sagicor Financial Corporation stock gained 26 cents to end the day at $6.50 as 20,000 shares changed hands. Clico Investment Fund was the only active security on the Mutual Fund Market, posting a volume of 5,725 shares valued at $122,343 and advanced by 1 cent to end at $21.37.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 2 stocks were higher than their last selling price, none had offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Trading Activity, TTSE

FX: Rates settle for awhile, at least

July 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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Tuesday, 30th July 2013 | Jamaicans got the US dollar for the same price as Monday at $101.86 and sold the currency for just 2 cents less on average to authorised dealers as US$28.6 million were purchased against US$27.1 million sold. Overall for all currencies traded US$34 million was purchased against US$31.7 sold on a day when the sale of Canadian was more than the amount purchased by just over C$1 million but the buying and selling rates for that currency slipped by 6 cents for the buying rate and 5 cents for the selling rate. There was more than a million pounds purchased than sold with the selling rate falling 76 cents to $155.64 and the buying rate moving up by 56 cents to $153.96.

Highest rates traded in buying the currencies were for the US dollar $102.20 down 30 cents, Canadian $100.30 up 55 cents, Pound sterling $156.70 down 40 cents while the lowest buying rates were the US dollar $83.67 an increase of 17 cents, Canadian $79.85 no change and the Pound sterling $126.53 down 5 cents.

Highest rates traded in selling the currencies were for the US dollar $107.21 same as the day before, Canadian $102.99 up 6 cents, Pound sterling $163.12 down 5 cents, while the lowest selling rates were the US dollar $98.83 up $15.16, Canadian $95.40 up $1.28 and Pound sterling $151.45 up by $2.05.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, FX Market, Trading Activity

JSE: Big day with crosses

July 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 30th July 2013 | Crosses was the order of the day on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The number and value of shares trading on market was filled with crosses done mainly by Pan Caribbean, leading the stocks of 28 companies to trade with a pumped up volume of 24,917,651 valued at $310.7 million. There were 9 stocks advancing and 13 declining which is an improvement on Monday when only 4 stocks had price advances and 14 declined.

Main market trades of note | The all Jamaica Index shed 489.39 points to close at 86,873.38 and the JSE market index lost 278.14 to close at 86,204.62.

Carreras traded 1,393,327 for a value of $71,652,396 and closed at $51.30 losing 21 cents, Desnoes & Geddes traded 6,787,525 valued $32,345,202, Jamaica Broilers 6,023,761 valued at $29,998,805, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 2,227,588 valued at $18,032,274 as the stock closed at $8.50 up 49 cents, Jamaica Producers 1,569,960 valued at $30,001,936 as the price gained 10 cents to close at $19.11, National Commercial Bank traded 3,149,543 with a value of $61,035,799 as the stock closed at $19.06 down 44 cents, Pan Jamaican Investment Trust 300,458 valued at $15,500,707 with 39 cents being shaved from the price which closed at $51.11, Scotia Group 2,220,944 units valued at $47,061,328, gaining 15 cents to close at $21.30.

Grace Kennedy traded 41,130 units and fell to a $53.60 at the close, off $2.40 on the same day the group reported a 40 percent jump in profits in the latest quarter to June and 20 percent for the six months period but after trading had closed.

Jamaica Stock Exchange ordinary shares traded for the first time since the company was listed but in the form of ordinary shares. Subsequent to the recent IPO, the stock traded at $3.25 up 40 cents on the IPO price with just 2,218 shares. Sagicor Investments lost 50 cents as it closed at $18 and Sagicor Life closed down 41 cents at $9 both with small volumes.

Junior market | 9 stocks in the junior market traded as the index moved up moderately by 4.89 to 806.04.

Trading continue to be dominated by the three Lasco companies followed by General Accident which traded 95,092 units to close $1.92 and Caribbean Producers traded 54,000 units to close $2.03. Blue Power chipped in with 34,199 units valued at $342,073 and closed at $10, a loss of 40 cents. Lasco Distributors traded 112,266 shares and closed up 4 cents to $1.50, Lasco Financial traded 131,516 shares and was up 10 cents to $1.60, and Lasco Manufacturing traded 318,315 shares and closed down a cent to $1.60.

Eppley shares which were listed on Monday has shown no signs that it will trade any time soon as there are no bids nor offer in the market for the stock.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded 196,000 units valued at $1 million. There was no trading in the ordinary shares which are quoted in US dollar.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 4 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, JSE Company, Trading Activity

Dividends: Carreras cuts, Grace ups

July 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Carreras | Carreras has cut its interim dividend to be paid in August from $1.50 paid last year to $1 this August. The decision by the Board of Directors to approve a lower amount must be seen as a reflection of the uncertain situation with demand of its product in light of an announcement last week that sales had slipped sharply with the advent of the ban on smoking in public spaces.

Carreras Limited disclosed today that it declared an interim dividend of $1.00 per share per share payable on August 28, 2013 to shareholders on record as at August 14, 2013. The ex-dividend date is August 12, 2013. The dividend paid at the same time last year was an interim dividend of $1.50 per share on August 23.

Grace Kennedy | The Board of Directors of Grace Kennedy increased its dividend partially in line with the increase in profits for the period. Accordingly, the company declared an interim dividend of 78 cents per share payable on September 30, 2013 to shareholders on record as at September 11. The ex-dividend date is September 9. The last dividend paid was 70 cents per stock unit on March 27, this year. In September last year a dividend of 70 cents per share was paid.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends Tagged With: Carreras, Dividends, Grace Kennedy

TTSE: Trading picks up on Monday’s

July 30, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 30th July 2013 | Activity picked up over the low level of Monday as trading took place in 10 securities of which 1 advanced, 6 declined and 3 traded firm. A volume of 456,515 shares crossed the floor of the Exchange valued at $9.59 million.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 144,900 shares at a value of $65,205, Scotiabank Trinidad & Tobago had 115,770 shares traded for $8,106,215 as the stock closed back to $70.02 loosing 98 cents at the end of trading. Grace Kennedy contributed 93,471 shares with a value of $317,801 and lost 9 cents, the worse in the market and in the process closed at $3.40, while National Commercial Bank added 30,000 shares valued at $35,400. Clico Investment Fund, posted a volume of 40,580 shares valued at $866,789

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 4 stocks were higher than their last selling price, there were no stocks having offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Trading Activity, TTSE

Unilever Q2 profits up

July 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Investors who owned Unilever stock from 2010 would have been very happy as the stock price has benefited from the impact of lower interest rates and some profit growth resulting in the stock price more than tripling.

But profits have lagged the stock price performance. For example, for the 3 months to June this year, profits are up to $14.4 million after tax, compared to $12.6 million in 2012 an increase of 14 percent increase. For the 6 months, profit is higher by 13.6 percent to $27.4 million, that is just a few points below the near 17 percent increase in stock price this year, the stock seems poised to increase in price even more than it has done so far. For the 3 months to March this year, profit was up to $13 million after tax, compared to $11.9 million in 2012. The June quarter represents a higher increase than that enjoyed in the first 3 months of the year.

Revenues up | Revenues which climbed to $133.6 million in the first quarter, grew to $147.3 million in the June quarter, up from $142.2 million for June 2012 quarter. For the 6 months, revenues are up from $269.7 million for the same period last year to $280.9 million this year, a mere 4 percent increase.

Stock price | Unilever’s 17 percent stock price growth this year so far is ahead of the gain in earnings and is on top of a 45 percent increase in 2012, 44 percent in 2011 and 35 percent in 2010 after a 16 percent fall in 2009. The stock seems poised to rise further as demand exceeds the supply of the stock on the Trinidad market. When stock prices rise much faster than the growth in profits, it is time to take serious note of what is happening. Investors in such stocks should be fully conversant with what are the factors at play to ensure their investment can be properly protected if, and when, the factors change.

Unilever products – Unilever Caribbean continues to trade at new highs virtually each time it trades.

The company | A subsidiary of Unilever PLC, a United Kingdom company, and based in Trinidad, the company manufactures a range of homecare, personal care and food products for the Caribbean region including Jamaica and has been having a reasonable profit performance for a number of years. In fact, they have been able to improve sales and margins in a market that has been in recession since 2009.

Some of the company’s brands include Mistolin, Radiante, Breeze, Vaseline, Lux, Lipton, Becel and Blue Band. The product range also includes dishwashing liquids as well as fabric conditioners.

Big quarter | The December quarter is the biggest period for earnings with more than a third being generated in the period. For 2012 full year to December the company reported after tax profit of $59.5 million, an increase of 2.8 percent over that earned in 2011. Profit for 2011 was up 11 percent over 2010 and 2010 profit was up 26 percent over the previous year. Lower interest rates in Trinidad have helped to push the PE ratio to 21 times the IC Insider’s projected earnings of $1.58 per share for 2013. Presently at a stock price of $55, this is up from 14 times in 2011 and 11.5 for 2010.

Improved margin | Unilever is not doing exceptionally well in a tight economy but it is clearly enjoying areas of success reflected in good growth in some of it products. Management earlier this year expressed concerns about rising input cost for some of the products it manufactures and competition from cheaper products. From all indications, management seems to have managed to be steering the operations well, resulting in improved margins and continued growth in profit. Gross margin climbed to 66.2 percent in the June quarter, up from 63.8 percent in the first quarter and up from 63.7 percent for the twelve months of 2012 and is a continuation of the marked improvement seen for 2012 over the 59.2 percent in 2011.

While cost increase seems to be under control for the first quarter in 2013 that was not the case in 2012 when selling cost rose by $17 million or 17 percent and administrative cost rose 22 percent, well above the growth in revenues.

In the latest quarter, sales & marketing cost is flat with 2012 but administrative cost climbed 38 percent to $10 million, a change to the flat numbers in the first quarter. While for the 6 months, sales & marketing cost is flat with 2012 but administrative cost is up 20 percent and is up faster than revenues are growing.

The company boast equity capital of $156 million, has no interest bearing debt and a high current asset ratio with liabilities almost covered twice over.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: TTSE, Unilever

Epply fast listing

July 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Shares of Epply Limited, the latest initial public issue to make it to the junior market that came to market last week, started trading today. The public issue, which closed on the July 22, is the fastest IPO listing since the junior market started and probably the fastest listing on the JSE ever. For the listing to take place within a week suggests that something must have gone right with it. Nevertheless, it’s a snail pace compared to international standards.

Previously, the listing of the JSE’s own shares took 2 weeks after the issue closed on July 8th and that was one of the fastest. There clearly is much improvement needed in the timeframe between listing and IPO close. There is no reason why the JSE can’t get to international standards a list within a day or two after closure of an IPO and so ensure greater liquidity in the market. All that is required is the reconciliation of subscriptions application, money paid and the allocation of shares where there is oversubscription. In this regard, the formula for dealing with oversubscription can be determined ahead of the closure of an issue.

All the other things such as paying stock exchange fees and final approval can surely take place within a day if the application for listing is effectively done ahead of the IPO.

Well into its first trading day, there were no stocks of Epply on offer nor was there any listed to be bought. One week after listing, the JSE ordinary shares are yet to traded even as the bid is now up to $3.25 in Monday’s trade.

Image courtesy of Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Eppley, JSE Company

FX: Buying tops selling by US$6M

July 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 29th July 2013 | Monday was a buoyant day in Forex trading, as buying exceeded selling of all the currencies by US$6 million and the actual trading of US dollars resulted in $42.5 million being purchased and $37.64 being sold at rate that were very close to the closing rate on Friday.

There was more Canadian selling than buying as the buying rate moved up by 12 cents to $98.34 and the selling rate by 10 cents to $99.94. The Pound sterling closed at a selling rate of J$156.40 to a Pound as it lost 18 cents in the process while buying took place by authorised dealers at J$153.40 $1 less than on Friday.

Highest rates traded in buying the currencies were for the US dollar $102.50 up 35 cents, Canadian $99.75 down 25 cents, Pound sterling $157.10 an increase of 33 cents while the lowest buying rates were the US dollar $83.50 no change, Canadian $79.85, up 25 cents and the Pound sterling $126.58 up 75 cents.

Highest rates traded in selling the currencies were for the US dollar $107.21 up 21 cents, Canadian $102.93, Pound sterling $163.17 while the lowest selling rates were the US dollar $83.67 down $14.83, Canadian $94.12 down 38 cents and Pound sterling $149.40 a reduction of $2.10.