Archives for February 2014

TTSE: Still exhibiting weakness

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 19th February 2014 | Trading remained subdued on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange with only 37,483 shares trading valued at $1,826,137. On Tuesday 29,258 shares traded with a value of $1,647,664.

Overall Market activity resulted in 10 securities trading of which 2 advanced, 2 declined and 6 traded firm. The effect of the price changes were reflected in the market indices with the Composite Index advancing by 0.05 points to close at 1,192.43, the All T&T Index inched up by 0.10 points to close at 2,000.44 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 50.49.

Gains | Guardian Holdings with 2,600 shares valued at $36,821 to close at $14.16 and Unilever with 220 units to close at $56.54, both stocks gained a cent each.

Losses | First Citizens Bank had 4,410 shares traded for $171,892 and closed at $38.97 and Agostini’s contributed 4,000 shares with a value of $71,139 to close at $17.79 both declining by a cent.

Firm Trades | Clico Investment Fund posted 8,225 shares valued at $178,473 with the price remaining at $21.70; Neal & Massy traded 789 units to close at $66.25; One Caribbean Media traded only 20 shares to end the day at $19.25; Scotia Bank had 15,553 shares changing hands for a value of $1,119,816 with the price closing at $72; Republic Bank traded 1,560 to close at $117 and Point Lisas Industrial Port Development traded 106 units $3.60.

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.

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Carreras is back

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Profits at Carreras is back on track dollar wise, as revenues hit $3.66 billion in the 2013 December quarter versus $3.745 billion in 2012.

Gross profit is above the 2012 period of $1.69 billion at $1.75 billion in 2013. Selling and administrative expenses declined in the latest quarter, which would have pushed the 2013 results above 2012. Carreras booked interest due on the debt owed by the tax department of $1.8 billion as other income, resulting in profits growing to $2.18 billion after tax, versus $1.17 billion in the prior year. Gross profit is down for the nine months to $3.98 billion from $4.34 billion in 2012. Profit after tax for the year-to-date is $3.1 billion versus $5.1 billion, with both periods having swollen figures due to exceptional income.

Volumes are still down, but not as badly as in the June quarter, when sales were negatively affected by the hike in cigarette prices in March 2013 and the stock piling of inventories by the trade ahead of the price hike, a practise that goes back for several years. The December quarter’s performance is in stark contrast to the June quarter when revenues plummeted from $3.1 billion in June 2012 quarter to just $2.16 billion, a sharp 30 percent drop, but profit after tax fared even worse, dipping by 40 percent.

Expenses rise | Administrative, sales & marketing expenses fell in the latest quarter to $600 million from $710 million in 2012 but is marginally up to $1.655 billion for the nine months compared to $1.58 billion for the same period as of December 2012.

Tax Recovered | The tax now recoverable is down to $980 million from $1.733 billion at the end of March and is expected to be fully recovered over the next 12 months and will most likely be distributed as dividends to shareholders.

Carreras ended up with cash funds of $3.8 billion at the end of December, equity is at $4.7 billion or $9.60 per share.

Earnings appears to be back on track to deliver around $6 per share annualised, which would result in some increase in the quarterly dividend that was cut from $1.50 to $1 last year in light of the drop in profit. Carreras declared $1.62 as the latest dividend to be paid March after paying a special capital cash distribution of $1.18 on January 30, 2014.

Carreras is an IC Insider Buy Rated Stock.

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

TTSE: Little forward movement so far

February 18, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 18th February 2014 | The Trinidad & Tobago stock market continues to exhibit weakness as most price changes on Tuesday were down with only on price being up.

In today’s trading on the Trinidad stock market 9 securities changed hands of which 1 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm. Trading resulted in just 171,274 shares changing hands valued at $1,501,139.

The Composite Index eased by 0.83 points to 1,192.38, the All T&T Index slipped by 1.75 points to close at 2,000.34 and the Cross Listed Index edged up by 0.02 points to close at 50.49.

Gains | One Caribbean Media was the only stock to advance as the price gained 23 cents to end at $19.25 with 775 shares changing hands.

Firm Trades | While the market tended to be on the weak side here were more stocks trading firm than those declining with Clico Investment Fund closing at $21.70 while trading 22,026 shares valued at $477,964; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 100,000 shares changing hands for a value of $50,100 with the price closing at 50 cents; Neal & Massy contributed 7,505 shares with a value of $497,341 and closed at $66.27; Point Lisas Port Development traded 316 units to close at $3.60 and Republic Bank had just 53 shares and closed at $117.

Losers | First Citizens Bank added 2,107 shares valued at $82,136, lost 2 cents to end at $38.98; Sagicor Financial Corporation added 37,325 shares valued at $287,403 to close at $7.70 for a decline of 4 cents and Scotiabank price fell 50 cents to close at $72.00 while trading 1,167 units.

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 5 stocks with offers that were lower.

Image courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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

USA trade deficit worsens, Caricom improves

February 17, 2014 by IC Insider.com

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Trade deficit deteriorates with USA | Jamaica’s trade deficit with the United States of America (USA) to October last year resulted in savings of US$136 million, which flowed from a rise in exports and a reduction in imports. This is a decline from the position in August when there was a $212 million improvement.

At the end of the 2013 period, the trade deficit with the USA stood at US$1.1 billion, down from US$1.24 billion in the comparable 2012 period. The value of imports the during the January to October 2013 fell by US$103 million or 5.6 percent to US$1.753 billion compared to the same period in 2012 and exports rose by US$32 million or 5.2 percent to US$651 million, representing 49.6 percent of total earnings from exports.

Expenditure on goods imported from the USA accounted for approximately 34.0 percent of Jamaica’s total expenditure on imports.

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Caricom trade improves | The trade deficit with the Caricom region for the year to October 2013 showed a US$65 million or 9 percent improvement over the similar period in 2012 with the deficit amounting to US$654 million, down from US$719 million in the comparable period of 2012.

Imports from CARICOM during January to October 2013, fell by 10.2 percent or US$80.3 million to US$709.6 million as a result of a decrease in expenditure on “Mineral Fuels, etcetera”. Up to August, imports fell by US$80 million as well and the reduction seems to have stabilised at a lower level than before. Expenditure on this commodity group accounted for 66.6 percent of goods imported from CARICOM during the 2013 period and imports fell by US$87 million or 15.6 percent to US$472 million in the current period. By comparison, in the January to October 2012 period, imports of “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” represented 70.8 percent of Jamaica’s total import bill with CARICOM.

Importation of “Food” rose by 9.3 percent or US$11.9 million to US$140.2 million. Spending on “Beverages & Tobacco” also rose marginally to US$33.4 million.

Total exports declined by 21.2 per cent or US$15.0 million to US$55.8 million during the January to October 2013 period. Domestic exports moved down from US$62 million to US$48 million because of decreases in “Chemicals”, “Misc. Manufactured Articles” and “Mineral Fuels, etcetera”. Earnings from these three commodity groups fell in the 2013 review period to US$5.1 million, US$3.4 million, and US$0.4 million respectively.

Related posts | Non-Traditional exports up | Caricom imports drop

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Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Deficit, Economy, GOJ, Trade

TTSE: Little forward movement so far

February 17, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 17th February 2014 | The market continues to show little forward movement similar to last week but that may change based on the IC bid offer indicator which shows some 5 stocks closing with bids above their last sale price.

In today’s trading on the Trinidad stock market, 10 securities changed hands of which 1 advanced, 2 declined and 7 traded firm. Trading resulted in just 136,077 shares changing hands valued at a mere $699,960.

The Composite Index inched by 0.54 points to 1,193.21, the All T&T Index advanced by 0.11 points to close at 2,002.09 and the Cross Listed Index edged up by 0.12 points to close at 50.47.

Gains | Jamaica Money Market Brokers, fresh from releasing the December quarterly report with profits from continuing operations rising 49 percent for the 9 month period, had 101,882 shares changing hands for a value of $50,422 with the price closing up 4 cents to close at 50 cents.

Firm Trades | Angostura Holdings contributed 3,100 shares with a value of $33,325, while First Citizens Bank traded 994 shares to close at $39.00; National Flour Mills with a volume of 5,000 shares being traded for $5,250; West Indian Tobacco traded 300 units to close at $118.00; Grace Kennedy Traded only 200 shares to close at $3.51; Republic Bank had just 178 shares and closed at $117.00 and National Enterprises put in a mere 100 units to close at $18.25.

Losers | Clico Investment Fund suffered a 30 cents fall to close at $21.70 while trading 23,294 shares valued at $505,480 and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 1,029 shares valued at $7,964 to close at $7.74 off by a cent.

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 6 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated

February 17, 2014 by IC Insider.com

IC Insider has added Desnoes & Geddes, Carreras and Cable & Wireless Jamaica to the Buy Rated list.

Desnoes & Geddes reported gains of 21 percent for the six months to December, earnings excluding one-off items and is poised to earn 80 cents for the full year ending in 2014. Forecasted earnings for the 2015 year is $1.10.

For Carreras the worse seems to be over with the last set of interim figures showing sales starting to recover from the impact caused by the price increase and the stock piling of cigarettes in the 2012 December and March 2013 quarters. IC Insider’s forecast is for earnings of around $5 per share for the year to March 2014.

Cable & Wireless’ sharp increase in cellular revenues and cost cutting will change the bottom-line markedly going forward.

Berger Paints Jamaica has been added to the market watch list flowing from a revival in earnings for the March 2014 year.

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Filed Under: Company News, Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Berger Paints, C&WJ, Carreras, D&G, Jamaican Stock, TTSE

Caribbean Producers results pushes stock

February 14, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Investors were evidently impressed with the results of Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ) for the half year to December 2013 and pushed the stock price up to $3 on Thursday, February 13th, the first trading day after the release.

The company released second quarter results to December showing profits up by 202 percent to US$1.624 million for the six months and 65 percent for the December quarter to US$1.18 million from US$711,712 in 2012. Earnings per share for the six months amounted to US$0.148 cents.

Sales revenues rose by 24 percent for the December quarter and 22 percent year to December hitting US$37.5 million for the 6 months and US$20.46 for the quarter. Gross profit margins came out at 41 percent for the quarter and 42.4 percent year to December. In the prior year, the margins were 42 percent for the quarter and 39.8 percent for the six months period.

Expenses up | Selling and administrative expenses are up 16.4 percent in the December quarter and 18.2 percent for the six months, while finance cost rose by 19 percent in the latest quarter and 14.4 percent for the year to December. Depreciation charge also rose sharply due mainly to their expansion into meat and juice processing.

CPJ’s performance for the next quarter should push profits up quite sharply as historically the March quarter generates the highest amount of sales and profit during the peak winter tourist season. IC Insider has forecast earnings for the full year at 70 cents Jamaican and J$1.35 for 2015 fiscal year.

Finances | The company is still not comfortably funded with borrowed funds of US$25 million at an elevated level and in excess of equity of just US$14.7 million. Short term loans are at $11 million, well in excess of the annual cash flow of approximately US$9 million.

Caribbean Producers is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Caribbean Producers (CPJ), Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

D&G elevated to Buy Rated!

February 14, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Desnoes & Geddes brewers of the world renown Red Stripe beer reported profit before taxation of $2.45 billion, a 102 percent increase over the $1.2 billion generated in 2012 and net profit of $1.95 billion. The huge jump in the bottom line came from booking capital gains from the sale of its interest in two eastern Caribbean Breweries in the December quarter, which contributed $970 million to the profit. Excluding this one-off capital gain would result in the 2013 numbers coming in at $1.479 billion for pretax profit or an increase of 21 percent, and $976 million after tax versus $808 in 2012. This translates to 35 cents per share for the six months period.

Profit in the local market before administrative and selling expenses rose 22 percent to reach $1.56 billion but export profits fell slightly to $402 from $468 million in 2012. Based on the latest results, IC Insider is forecasting 80 cents per share earnings for the year to June 2014 and $1.10 for 2015. Based on the company’s expected performance, IC Insider has elevated Desnoes & Geddes to Buy Rated status.

Sales | Revenues grew 12 percent to $7.30 billion, compared with $6.5 billion in 2012 for the six months and grew by a more robust 18.5 percent in the latest quarter to $4 billion.

“The domestic portfolio continues to grow, increasing by 23 percent on growth in the brewed portfolio as well as improved pricing. Export sales declined 28 percent as the shift in production from Jamaica to the USA during the last financial year,” management stated in their release with the financials.

Gross Profit margin ended at 72 percent for the December quarter and 70.8 percent for the six months but the 2012 six months numbers were at a high of 75.8 percent.

Expenses | D&G was able to cut cost even as revenues rose. Marketing cost declined by 9 percent to $497 million, which the company attributes savings as a result of funds expended in 2012 on Jamaica’s 50th independence celebration. Cost containment and the outsourcing of the distribution of its products led to the reduction in general, selling and administrative cost with a fall of 9 percent to $542 million for the six months to December.

Finances | Cash resources climbed to $1.7 billion at the end of 2013 from $1.2 billion in 2012 but receivables jumped to $2.95 billion from just over a $1 billion in 2012 and $1.1 billion in June 2013. The company attributes the rise due mainly to full credit being given to its associated distribution company.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: D&G, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

CWJ loss down with much progress

February 14, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Cable & Wireless Jamaica released quarterly results showing a loss of $315 million compared to $438 million in 2012 from lower revenues and $120 million in restructuring cost.

The latest quarterly results showed improvement in several areas with changes in revenues and cost. The December quarter showed an overall revenue reduction of 19 percent but cost was down as well. The end result is growth in gross margin with gross profit up to $3.65 billion from $3.27 billion in 2012 and moderate improvement in the bottom-line. However, there is far more happening here than meets the eyes. The company is reporting increased revenue from cellular phone usage coming from both voice and data with a growth in the customer base year-over-year. The pace has been growing since 2012 and is up 11 percent for 2013 in US dollars and is expected to increase even more as data usage grows.

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These quarterly numbers have lots of coded information about current and future performances of a company that has bled much blood in the past few years and is trying hard to recover. For the nine months, loss is $1.75 billion and is down from $2.2 billion in 2012. More importantly, the stage is set for a sharp reduction in losses going forward. Landline revenue was down in keeping with the reduction in local termination rates as well as CWJ’s cut in landline call rates during the period. A large part of the revenue reduction came from restructuring of the telephone directory cost which now leaves CWJ in a better position as the risk was reduced.

Cost savings were also achieved in restructuring commission payments to mobile credit distributors and the wage bill was down in the quarter. However, administrative and other cost rose due to the outsourcing of the maintenance work for the phone system. IC Insider believes the future is bright for CWJ and is forecasting an absolute profit in the March quarter and an overall profit in 2015 fiscal year.

CWJ grew its mobile subscriber base, increasing by 23% and quarterly mobile service revenue rose 43 percent over the 2012 prior year quarter in local currency. This increase is after the company changed its method of accounting for active users from counting customers having credit on their phones to those who actually used their phones during the last 60 days. Gary Sinclair, LIME’s Managing Director, stated that 55,000 customers were removed from the total as a result of the change. Nevertheless, the overall number of subscribers are up year-over-year and continues to grow in 2014.

In response to the question, “Is December’s income now representative of what can be expected baring growth or contraction on a quarterly basis,” Sinclair stated that EBITA is actually up in January and that is more indicative of what can be expected.

The strategy is clear, cut cost some more and grow the mobile base, the area of strong growth potential.

In trading on Thursday, investors reacted negatively to the news and sold CWJ’s stock down to 31 cents but some buying came in and drove the price up.

With growth to come in revenues and lower cost on the horizon, Cable & Wireless Jamaica is now a Buy Rated stock.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: C&WJ, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

Remittance inflows continues up

February 12, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Remittance inflows for November last year were US$168 million, an increase of US$10 million or 6.3 per cent compared to the corresponding month in 2012. The rise in total remittance inflows reflected an increase of US$8.0 million in inflows through Remittance Companies and an increase of US$2 million in inflows by other sources.

Net remittances flows were US$149.4 million for November 2013, an increase of US$13.5 million or 9.9 per cent versus the corresponding month in of 2012. The growth in net remittance inflows reflected an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows.

Total remittance inflows from January to November 2013 were US$1.87 billion, an increase of US$24 million over the flows for the similar period in 2012.

The increase in total remittance inflows reflect an increase of US$15 million in inflows through Other Remittances and an increase of US$9 million in inflows through Remittances Companies.

Net remittances for January to November 2013 were US$1.65 billion representing an increase of US$47 million or 2.9 per cent relative to 2012. The outturn for the review period reflected an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows.

Related posts | October remittances up