Archives for February 2014

Buy Rated: Ja Teas & JMMB big gains

February 22, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Friday, 21st February 2014 | This week on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican Teas gained 19 percent and on the Trinidad Stock market, Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) 11 percent on the Trinidad market.

Meanwhile, Cable & Wireless, a new selection to the Buy Rated list gained 6% during the past week. General Accident also increased by 6 percent.

Lasco stock continue to be lacklustre with Lasco Distributors and Lasco Financial both shedding 7 percent and Lasco Manufacturing down 8 percent.

Updated reporting | The performance tracking of the Buy Rated Stock Chart shows details of stock gains since selection and now shows the performance for the week. Accordingly, there will no longer be weekly comments on changes as the chart shows the latest movements.

GSE: Ghana stocks close up

February 21, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Friday, 21st February 2014 | The Ghana Stock Exchange closed moderately up for the week as 9 stocks closed the week with gains versus 6 that declined. The GSE Composite Index rose 8.77 points to close at 2,439.20 and the GSE Financial services index rose 22.18 points to close at 2202.17.

Major movers | At the end of the week, Enterprise Group was up 11 percent on top of a 9 percent increase the week before to close at GH(¢)2.25; Ecobank Transnational Incorporation up 5 percent, closing at GH(¢)0.22; HFC Bank gained 8 percent to close at GH(¢)1.09 to add to the 7 percent gain in the prior week; Societe Generale Ghana gained 17 percent to close at GH(¢)1.18 or 22 percent over the prior week; and Total Petroleum up 4 percent to close at GH(¢)5.25.

Losers | Those that lost value this week are Aluworks down 17 percent to close at GH(¢)0.05, the stock gained 20 percent in the previous week; Cal Bank 3 percent, closing at GH(¢)1.01; Ghana Commercial Bank 4 percent and ended down at GH(¢)4.45 and Guinness Ghana Breweries 3 percent decrease to GH(¢)6.

During the week, 2,676,472 shares changed hands compared with 3,597,617 shares the previous week.

Filed Under: Global Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Ghana, Ghana Stock Exchange, Trading Activity

Little change to TTSE PE values

February 21, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Friday, 21st February 2014 | Prices mostly edged down during the past week and five stocks perked up on Friday but the movements had little impact on the market valuation of the stocks.

The general tone on the Trinidad market is more in line with sidewards movement. However, the potential for investors still rests with stocks that can gain over 100% like Trinidad Cement at 325%, Point Lisa (261%), Berger (206%), Guardian Holdings (198%), National Flour (154%), and Neal & Massy (151%).

Filed Under: Company News, Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: PE Ratios, Trading Activity, TTSE

JSE: Market closes up

February 21, 2014 by IC Insider.com

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Friday, 21st February 2014 | The Jamaican stock market closed the week with the main indices increasing to partially recover from two previous days of decline. The JSE Market Index gained 168.44 points to close at 79,531.75 and closed the week down by 82 points, the JSE All Jamaican Composite increased by 595.32 points to 84,535.18 and closed the week higher than it started by more than 200 points.

Main Market | Advancing and declining stocks were almost evenly divided at the end of trading as National Commercial Bank dominated trading with 1.6 million units along with Carreras with nearly 1 million units and Desnoes & Geddes with 2 million units.

Gains | Caribbean Cement exchanged 2,100 shares at $4.97 for an increase of 27 cents; Carreras put in 980,789 shares at $36.01 for a one cent gain; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 3,528 units trading at $7.49 as the price inched up by a cent; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share contributed 3,000 units to rise by a cent at $3.01; National Commercial Bank was active in trading 1,590,083 units to close at $19.00 for a gain of 98 cents and Seprod had only 950 units changing hands to close up 10 cents at $11.00.

Firm trade | There were only few stocks that traded with unchanged prices. First Caribbean International Bank traded 25,455 units to close at $80; Proven Investments had 580 units at US1799 cents; Sagicor Group had 169,967 shares at $9.15; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 39,216 units at $7 and Supreme Ventures 59,000 shares at $2.40.

Declines | Cable & Wireless traded 718,201 but the price slipped by 2 cents to end at 35 cents; Desnoes & Geddes swapped 2,015,946 shares at $5 each and lost a cent in the process; Grace Kennedy gave up 94 cents as the stocks traded 3,808 units to close at $54.56; Jamaica Broilers lost 8 cents to close at $4.82 with 31,950 shares; Pan Jamaican Investment had only 350 units trading at $48.99 for a one cent fall; Scotia Group traded 45,965 units but the price slipped by 35 cents to close at $20.70 and its subsidiary, Scotia Investments, closed down a cent as it traded 16,550 units to end at $25.99.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 2.79 points to close at 740.55 and kept below the close of the previous week by 26 points.

Gains | Only two junior market stocks recorded gains with Caribbean Producers exchanging 240,000 shares to close at $2.75 for a 3 cents increase and General Accident Insurance 5,000 units to close at $1.70, up 5 cents.

Firm trade | Two stocks closed unchanged. Blue Power having 1,400 shares at $9.00 and Paramount Trading 11,535 shares at $2.88.

Declines | The four junior market stocks suffered price declines include Consolidated Bakeries with 447,896 shares at $1.05 for a 5 cents fall; Lasco Distributors 219,643 units in closing at $1.30 having declined by 5 cents; Lasco Financial Services closed while trading 195,700 units at $1.30, as it too fell by 5 cents and Lasco Manufacturing traded 46,241 shares with a 3 cents fall to close at $1.20.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers lower.

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

TTSE: 2 new highs to close week

February 21, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Friday, 21st February 2014 | Republic Bank and One Caribbean Media traded at new 52 weeks high to close off a week on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange that was characterised more by declining stocks than vs. those that enjoyed price gains.

On Friday, 10 securities traded of which 5 advanced, 1 declined and 4 traded firm but the Composite Index declined by 2.22 points to 1,189.87, the All T&T Index advanced by 3.84 points to close at 2,003.47 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 1.10 points 49.40. Trading accounted for only 23,960 shares valued at $709,322.

Gains | Stocks trading with increased prices are ANSA McAL with 25 shares at $66.51, up a cent; One Caribbean Media 261 shares at $19.31 for a gain of 6 cents; First Citizens Bank 77 shares to close up by 27 cents at $38.97; Republic Bank 1,000 shares valued at $117,500 and gained 50 cents to end the day at $117.50; Scotiabank with a volume of 3,000 shares being traded for $216,750 as the price closed up 25 cents at $72.25.

Firm trades | Clico Investment Fund exchanged 11,000 shares valued at $238,480 to close at $21.68; National Enterprises traded 6,153 shares changing hands for a value of $112,292 and Trinidad Cement with 216 units at $2.07.

Losers | First Caribbean International Bank contributed 2,100 shares with a value of $13,650, falling $0.25 to end the day at $6.50.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that lower. The bulk of the stocks with higher bids are Jamaican based companies.

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

JSE: Main market stocks dominates

February 20, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Thursday, 20th February 2014 | There was trading in 29 securities resulting in 6,367,485 shares with a value of $16,139,565 with 9 stocks rising and 7 declining in today’s trading on the Jamaica stock market Main market stocks did better than the junior market with less than half of the declining stocks coming from the main market, while all but one stock with gains came from the main market. More than a third of the volume was accounted for by Cable & Wireless that rose to a new 52 weeks high.

Main Market | The JSE Market Index declined by 201.56 points to close at 79,363.31 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite fell 305.75 points to 83,939.86 even as advancing stocks in the main market out distanced declining ones by a wide margin.

Gains | Unlike Wednesday when there were only 3 stocks rising in the main market, in today’s trading 7 stocks recorded gains and one in the US dollar market as investors continue to view the latest results for Cable & Wireless favourably. The stock traded 2,348,000 shares to close at a new 52 weeks high of 37 cents by gaining a cent. Desnoes & Geddes traded 5,520 units as the price rose by a cent to close at $5.01; Jamaica Broilers traded 34,497 shares to close up 10 cents at $4.90; Pan Jamaican Investment contributed only 1,170 units at $49, for a 95 cents gain; Proven Investments trading in the US dollar market exchanged 19,010 units at US17.99 cents, as the price gained US0.49 cents; Sagicor Group with 706,311 shares closed gained 15 cents at $9.15; Scotia Group had a volume of 16,759 while closing at 5 cents more at $21.05 and Supreme Ventures 922,600 shares at $2.40 for a 5 cents gain.

Firm Trades | Berger Paints having 35,676 units trading to close at $1.85; Gleaner 5,000 shares to close at $1.15; Grace Kennedy with 1,310 shares changing hands at $55.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference shares 150,000 units at $2, and the 8.75% preference share, 340,600 units at $3; Jamaica Producers, produced 10,931 units to close at $18.26; Kingston Wharves 2,500 units at $6; Mayberry Investments 39,249 units to end at $1.89 and Salada Foods 1,950 shares to close at $9.

Losses | There were only 3 stocks that declined in the main market as Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded only 3,066 shares to close 2 cents down at $7.48; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund had 12,784 shares trading with the price falling by 10 cents to end at $7 and National Commercial Bank traded 18,200 units to close at $18.02 for a 48 cents fall.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 8.40 points to close at 743.34 as there was trading in 9 securities in this market.

Gains | Lasco Distributors was the only stock to trade up in the junior market with 850,000 units, gaining 5 cents to close at $1.35.

Firm trades | Four stocks traded unchanged at the close of the market with Blue Power Group having a volume of 4,472 units to close at $9; Derrimon trading with 219,000 shares to close at $2.50; General Accident Insurance having 207,900 units at $1.65 and Lasco Manufacturing 89,133 units at $1.23.

Losses | Four stocks lost value in the junior market with Access Financial Services slipping 60 cents while trading 39,074 units to close at $10; Dolphin Cove with 67,278 shares closed down 20 cents at $8.30; Lasco Financial Services saw 187,160 shares trading to close at $1.35 for a 10 cents drop and Paramount Trading exchanged 28,335 units as the price edged down by 12 cents to $2.88.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

TTSE: Prices still struggling to move up

February 20, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Thursday, 20th February 2014 | Overall Market activity resulted from trading in 14 securities of which 3 advanced, 2 declined and 9 traded firm. The Composite Index declined by 0.34 points to close at 1,192.09, the All T&T Index slipped by 0.81 points to close at 1,999.63 and the cross listed index advanced by 0.01 points to close at 50.50.

Trading activity on the First Tier Market registered a volume of 159,297 shares crossing the floor valued at$2,583,712.

Gains | Scotia Investments had 1,900 units trading to close at $1.52 as it gained 2 cents; Trinidad Cement had 43,524 shares changing hands for a value of $89,825 and closed up 2 cents at $2.07 and Unilever Caribbean enjoyed a gain of 7 cents to $56.60, a new 52 weeks high.

Firm Trades | Angostura Holdings added 4,905 shares valued at $52,729 to close at $10.75; ANSA McAL traded only 250 units at $66.50; Guardian Holdings had 13,910 shares being traded for $196,966 to close at $14.16; Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributed 13,500 shares with a value of $6,750, and closed at 50 cents; National Enterprises traded a mere 13 units at $8.25; Neal & Massy Holdings put in 526 units at $66.25; One Caribbean Media 30 units at $19.25; West Indian Tobacco. 60 units at $118.

Declines | First Citizens Bank had a 27 cents fall to close at $38.70 as 2,729 shares were traded and Clico Investment Fund traded 73,650 shares valued at $1,596,732 and declined by 2 cents to end at $21.68.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

Inflation moderates slightly

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica’s inflation moderated slightly in January this year, according to data released by Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) compared with the December 2013 inflation rate.

Statin says that the inflation recorded by the All Jamaica Consumer Price Index was 0.5 per cent. Jamaica’s inflation rate for December 2013 was put at 0.6 percent by Statin in an earlier report released in January.

All divisions recorded an inflation rate below 1.0 per cent, with the exception of ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’, which recorded an increase of 2.9 per cent. This movement was due mainly to the increase of approximately 12.0 per cent in the National Minimum Wage which took effect on January. The highest weighted division, ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ moved up by 0.4 per cent a slightly lower movement than the 0.5 per cent recorded for December 2013, as lower prices were paid for vegetables and starchy foods.

The upward movement in the index recorded for the divisions for January were as follows: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ which moved up by 0.4 per cent, ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ 0.1 per cent, ‘Clothing and Footwear’ 0.2 per cent, ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’0.7 per cent, ‘Health 0.3 per cent, ‘Transport’ 0.1 per cent. ‘Recreation and Culture’ 0.1 per cent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.5 per cent, ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ 0.7 per cent, ‘Education’ and ‘Communication’ recorded negligible movement for the period under review the release stated.

The Index advanced in all three regions: Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA) 0.6 per cent, Other Urban Centres (OUC) 0.4 per cent and Rural Areas, 0.5 per cent.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, Inflation, Statin

Eppley profit jumps

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Eppley is an interesting play with limited income and limited cost in the short term but profit could explode to the upside in 2014 as increased funds under management are put to work.

The company reported a big jump in profits of $34 million or $61.04 per share earnings (EPS) for 2013. In 2012, profit was just $15 million and EPS of $50.21. In the December 2013 quarter, EPS came out at $13.88 as profit amounted to $11 million as no tax was charged due to the exemption for Junior Market companies.

The full year earnings came from income of $65.3 million. Operating expenses were $34 million and interest expense $16.5 million. Eppley generated $24 million in Other Income. Net interest income for the full year was roughly the same as in 2012 at $48.7 million, 2012 $50 million. Income should grow in 2014 as the proceeds of the preference shares issued at the end of 2013 which brought in $387 million at 9.5 percent per annum starts to generate income.

At the end of 2012, there was $463 million total assets under management but that has grown to $814 million, almost doubling the amount. Except for a very small amount, the remainder of the assets are all potentially income generating. At the end of December, only about $160 million of the assets was not placed to maximize returns and that should be corrected in 2014.

Stock outlook | The company stated that it had a $757 million portfolio with an average yield of 15 percent at year end; $474 million of these funds are borrowed but at lower cost than the rate being generated by the portfolio. Earnings for 2014 should be in the region of $60 million or $107 per share after paying preference dividends. If this materializes, the stock could move strongly upwards if enough trading takes place. Eppley announced a $9 per share dividend payable on February 28, 2014. The stock, which trades infrequently, last traded at $380.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Eppley, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

JSE: Stocks trading unchanged on top

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 19th February 2014 | There was trading in 32 securities resulting in 4,788,900 shares with a value of $10,931,649 as 5 stocks rose and 7 declined in today’s trading on the Jamaica stock market. Twenty stocks closed unchanged in price.

Main Market | The JSE Market Index declined by 352.05 points to close at 79,564.87 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite fell 534.04 points to 84,245.61.

Gains | Cable & Wireless traded 2,263,421 shares to close back at its recent high of 36 cents by gaining 2 cents; Carreras traded 7,900 units as the price moved up by 85 cents to close at $36 and Mayberry Investments contributed 36,956 units at $1.89, a 4 cent gain.

Firm Trades | Stocks that traded with unchanged prices were greater than those with price changes with Berger Paints having 1,500 units trading to close at $1.85; Caribbean Cement 16,000 shares at $4.70; Grace Kennedy with 6,657 shares changing hands at $55.50; Jamaica Broilers, 22,242 shares at $4.80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers ordinary shares 3,202 units at $7.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference shares 824,800 units at $2; the 8.50% preference shares only had 400 units at $3.50 and the 8.75% preference share, 35,000 units at $3; Jamaica Producers, 290 units at $18.26; Kingston Wharves 16,696 units at $6; National Commercial Bank 13,200 shares at $18.50; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 1,300 units at $7.10; Scotia Group 105,909 units at $21 and Supreme Ventures 9,891 shares at $2.35.

Losses | Three stocks that declined in the main market were Proven Investments in the US dollar market trading 5,590 units at US17.5 cents, declining by US0.49 cents; Salada Foods with 8,000 shares trading to close at a cent down at $9; Scotia Investments 2,000 shares as the price lost 35 cents to end at $26 and Sagicor Group with 76,687 shares at $9, down 50 cents.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 4.12 points to close at 751.74 as advancing stocks were hard to find in this market.

Gains | Cargo Handlers Limited closed at a new all-time high of $15 while trading 91,250 units for a gain of 80 cents and Caribbean Cream had 21,000 shares trading at 85 cents for a 4 cent increase.

Firm trades | Stocks trading unchanged dominated trading with General Accident Insurance having 124,757 units at $1.65; Honey Bun 15,026 shares at $3; Lasco Distributors 120,257 units at $1.30; Lasco Financial Services 319,900 shares at $1.45; Lasco Manufacturing 70,000 units at $1.23 and Paramount Trading 3,700 units at $3.

Losses | Only 3 stocks lost value with Caribbean Producers slipping 3 cents while trading 501,369 units to close at $2.72; Medical Disposables & Supplies 58,000 units as the price edged down by 6 cents to $2 and Dolphin Cove with 6,000 shares to close down 10 cents at $8.50.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.