The Trinidad stock market continues to trade with a slight upward bias on Wednesday, as trading took place in 13 securities of which 5 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm. A total of 468,162 stocks units traded with a value of $8,166,881.
The Composite Index advanced 0.38 points to close at 1,179.66, the All T&T Index rose by 1.45 points to close at 2,014.85 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 0.09 points to close at 45.16.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Angostura Holdings while contributing 35,851 shares with a value of $466,014, closed a cent higher at $13, First Citizens Bank added 22,679 shares valued at $866,443, to close with a gain of 5 cents at $38.22, Guardian Holdings with 84,130 shares changing hands for a value of $1,135,704, closed at $13.50, with a gain of 23 cents, One Caribbean Media contributed 450 units and closed at $20.40 for a 4 cents gain, and another 52 weeks high and Prestige Holdings exchanged 452 units at $9.41, for a one cent gain.
Declines| Flavorite Foods traded 1,000 shares and lost 20 cents, to end at $6.80, Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 56,380 shares for $27,082 as the price shed 2 cents, to end at 48 cents and Readymix traded just 200 shares to end at $19.60, for a 7 cents fall.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Ansa Merchant Bank with 4,585 units to close at $38.40, ANSA Mcal with 1,643 shares to end at $66.45, Clico Investment Fund posted a volume of 244,332 shares valued at $5,272,411, to close at $21.60, Firstcaribbean International Bank had 16,070 shares trading to close at $5.50 and Trinidad Cement 300 shares to close at $2.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and only one stock with the offer being lower.
Archives for April 2014
More stocks up than down on TTSE
Proven – growth by acquisition
Proven Investments‘ growth by acquisition took a leap forward with the announcement that they came to an agreement with conglomerate Grace Kennedy to acquire all the shares of First Global Financial Services Limited (FGFS) from First Global Holdings Limited. The agreement was signed on April 24, 2014. This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. Grace Kennedy stated in a release to the Jamaica Stock Exchange that the transaction is valued at $3.05 billion but excludes the seat on the exchange that the Grace group will keep.
First Global Financial Services Limited, FGFS was established in April 2004, as part of the Grace Kennedy Financial Services Division re-branding and consolidation exercise, when George & Branday Securities Ltd assumed the First Global brand name of First Global Financial Services Limited. Later, FGFS acquired the operations of FGB Securities Limited, First Global Stockbrokers Limited, Grace Kennedy Properties Limited, First Global Insurance Limited, and Grace Pension Management Limited.
The acquisition will swell the assets of Proven which stood at US$146.4 million at the end of 2013. It is expected that the two entities will be merged resulting in a cut in operating cost. FGS is said to have $22 billion in assets plus assets managed for third parties off the balance sheet amounting to $60 billion. Not all of the assets may move over as some clients could opt to shift to other entities within the financial industry. If history is anything to go by, the bulk of the assets should continue with the new owners once the deal is concluded.
Grace plans to use the proceeds to expand First Global Bank locally and the group’s financial services regionally.
Related post | FX gains & securities boost Proven
Is Access now a takeover target?
Despite an 88.6 percent jump in provision for bad loans and infighting within the board, Access Financial Services reported impressive increase in profit for the March quarter with revenues climbing 46 percent to $253 million and profits of $80 million versus $61.5 in 2013. Wages grew by 30 percent to $65 million and other operating expenses climbed by 33 percent both at a slower pace than revenues.
No provision has been made for taxation but the company should be subject to tax on profit in the last quarter at 50 percent of the tax rate for that quarter’s profit.
At the end of the quarter, the balance sheet shows assets of $1.298 billion slightly higher than the $1.27 billion at the end of December last year. In the past the figures at the end of the March quarter usually show a contraction as much of the increased lending ahead of the Christmas period is repaid. Loans outstanding are up strongly by 48 percent to $1.12 billion, almost the same amount at the end of December.
Access should, if they are able to overcome the directorship and management issues, end up with earnings per share around the $1.50 level for the current year. Investors, who would buy into it now, would need to have a long term view of it based on where the price is now — unless of course, there is a hostile takeover that could well push the price up.
Related posts | Access CEO moved but… | Access & its CEO in Court | Access moved to Market Watch
5 up 2 down on TTSE
The Trinidad stock market closed on Tuesday with trading in 13 securities of which 5 advanced, 2 declined and 6 traded firm with 343,281 units trading, with a value of $2,087,465.
The Composite Index advanced by 0.87 points to close at 1,179.28 and the All T&T Index advanced by 1.52 points to close at 2,013.40 and the Cross Listed Index inched up by 0.03 points to close at 45.25.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close of trading are First Citizens Bank that traded 1,414 shares to close with a gain of 6 cents to end at $38.17, Guardian Holdings traded 4,163 units to close at $13.27, up 16 cents, Sagicor Financial Corporation 9,875 shares with a value of $69,323 to close at $7.02, while gaining 2 cents, Scotiabank 1,542 units to close at $70, to gain 25 cents, Unilever Caribbean added 5,300 shares, valued at $311,514 and gained 39 cents to end the day at $58.75, for a new 52 weeks high.
Declines| Agostini’s traded 200 shares to close at $17.59, down 10 cents and National Flour Mills traded 178,722 shares for a value of $191,352, to close at $1.07 for an 11 cents decline,
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Angostura Holdings which added 2,709 shares to close at $12.99 and was down by a cent, Ansa Mcal with a volume of 1,000 shares and closed at $66.45, Clico Investment Fund closed at $21.60 while trading 15,030 shares, valued at $324,275, Grace Kennedy traded 3,936 shares to close at $3.60, Trinidad Cement exchanged 114,185 shares for $228,370, to close at $2 and Republic Bank closed at $120.33 with 5,205 units trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and no offer was lower.
Trinidad Stock Market Marking time
The Trinidad stock market continues to trade with no clear direction and Monday’s trading session was no exception with activity in 14 securities of which 3 advanced, 3 declined and 8 trading firm. A total of 277,748 stock units changed hands, with a value of $12,479,930.
The Composite Index eased 0.25 points to close at 1,178.41, the All T&T Index declined by 0.48 points to close at 2,011.88 and the Cross Listed Index remained flat 45.22.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Angostura Holdings trading 20,201 shares valued at $262,511 to close up a cent at $13, First Citizens Bank that traded 970 shares to close with a gain of 9 cents, to end at $38.11 and Point Lisas Industrial Port Development contributing 800 shares to the volume traded and closed at $3.71 for a one cent gain.
Declines| Agostini’s traded 565 shares and lost a cent to end at $17.69, Clico Investment Fund with 54,122 units, closed at $21.60, down 10 cents, National Flour Mills had 15,400 shares changing hands to close at $1.18, down 2 cents and Trinidad Cement price slipped 19 cents while trading 64,825 shares valued at $129,941, to close at $2.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Guardian Media while adding 608 shares to close at $19.75, National Commercial Bank with 13,525 shares to close at $1.15, National Enterprises with 696 shares changing hands and closed at $18.75, while Mora Ven Holdings that last traded on July 22 last year, finally traded today with 5,000 shares changing hands valued at $74,850 to close at $14.97, Republic Bank with 87,704 units for a value of $10,553,422, closed at $120.33, Sagicor Financial Corporation 16,452 shares valued at $115,164 to close at $7 and Scotiabank traded 1,880 units to close at $69.75.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 1 stock with the offer that was lower.
NCB ups dividend as profit climbs
National Commercial Bank approved an increase dividend payment of 35 cents per share payable on May 22, 2014 for stockholders on record as at May 9, 2014. Last year for the March quarter as a result of the fall in profit, the bank cut its dividend paid on May 24 last year to 16 cents per share down from 23 cents they paid in March. A dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.
NCB also released the second quarter results to March and as expected the results showed strong improvement over the 2013 quarter with a net profit of $2.99 billion up from the NDX affected $1.74 billion in 2013. The latest quarterly figures exceeds the amount reported in the December quarter when they made $2.86 billion which was boosted by a $300 million gain from acquisition of a subsidiary. Without that one off non-operating income profit would have grown by 17 percent over the December 2013.
Huge progress has been made in recovering from the negative impact that the NDX debt swap had on net interest income last year as $5.89 billion to $6.11 billion. For the six months to March the bank generated net profit $5.85 billion up from $4.53 billion last year resulting in earnings per share of $2.38 for the current year to date. In achieving these results NCB was able to hold expenses with overall expenses falling in the March quarter compared with the December figures and the latest figures just slightly higher than for the similar quarter last year being just $74 million more at $6.97 billion for March 2013 quarter. For the year to March expenses are up $1.73 billion to $14.3 billion.
The bank seems to be on target to clock around $5 per share earnings for the current fiscal year that ends in September.
The bank grew loans from $141.1 billion to just over $150.5 billion and made provision for bad loans of $492 million versus $390 million in December and $494 million in the 2013 March quarter. For the 2014 six months period bad loan provisioning amounted to $882 million a decline from $1.07 billion.
New listing on GSE as prices gain
The week ending April 25 saw one new entrant to the list of companies as Mega African Capital (MAC) a long-term private investment company became the newest listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange having listed on April 24.
MAC traded 5,500 shares at GH¢3.50 having opened at GH¢3.10 for a gain of GH¢0.40. The company objective is to target high net-worth investors looking for African opportunities to generate high real returns. The total number of shares issued by the company is 8,641,469 units.
At the close of the week, the market continues to show signs of weakness but it managed to slow the decline somewhat, with 6 stocks advancing, to 4 that declined while the two indices gained moderately, with the GSE Composite Index closing at 2,276.12 compared with 2,272.40, at the end of the previous week’s trading. The GSE Financial Stocks index that closed at 1,934.75 on the final trading day of the previous week, closed higher with 5 of the 6 stocks advancing and only one of the declining stocks were from the financial sector.
The level of trading for the week was poor, with only 1.5 million shares trading, of which 1.1 million traded on Friday, Societe Generale Ghana traded 1 million units on that day.
NCB ups dividend as profit climbs
National Commercial Bank approved an increased dividend payment of 35 cents per share payable on May 22, 2014 for stockholders on record as at May 9, 2014. For the same March quarter last year, the bank cut the dividend paid on May 24 to 16 cents per share, down from 23 cents they paid in March 2012. A dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.
NCB also released the second quarter results to March and as expected the results showed strong improvement over the 2013 quarter with a net profit of $2.99 billion, up from the NDX affected $1.74 billion in 2013. The latest quarterly figures exceeds the amount reported in the December quarter when they made $2.86 billion, which was boosted by a $300 million gain from acquisition of a subsidiary. Without that one off non-operating income, profit would have grown by 17 percent over the December 2013.
Huge progress has been made in recovering from the negative impact that the NDX debt swap had on net interest income last year as $5.89 billion to $6.11 billion. For the six months to March, the bank generated net profit $5.85 billion, up from $4.53 billion last year resulting in earnings per share of $2.38 for the current year to date. In achieving these results, NCB was able to put a hold on expenses in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. The latest figures of $6.97 billion are slightly higher by just $74 million than the March 2013 quarter. For the year to March, expenses are up by $1.73 billion to $14.3 billion.
The bank is to be on target to clock around $5 per share earnings for the current fiscal year that ends in September.
The bank grew loans from $141.1 billion to just over $150.5 billion and made provision for bad loans of $492 million versus $390 million in December and $494 million in the 2013 March quarter. For the 2014 six months period, bad loan provisioning amounted to $882 million, a decline from $1.07 billion.
Related posts | 39% hike for NCB dividend | NCB ill-fated IPO cost $680m | NDX slaps NCB profits
Citizens climb continues
First Citizens Bank’s stock price continues to recover as the stock enjoyed another day of gains on Thursday on the Trinidad Stock Exchange with a 42 cents rise, as there was trading in 13 securities of which 7 advanced, 3 declined and 3 traded firm, with 457,650 units trading carrying a value of $8,255,609.
The Composite Index advanced by 0.27 points to close at 1,174.54, the All T&T Index gained 0.56 points to close at 2,003.95, while the Cross Listed Index remained flat at 45.25.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund that advanced by 5 cents to end at $21.45 as 30,366 shares valued at $651,315 were traded, First Citizens Bank that gained 42 cents to end the day at $37.46 as 17,775 units changed hands, valued at $616,970, Grace Kennedy added 25,194 shares valued at $90,479 as the price moved up 10 cents to $3.60, Neal & Massy traded 636 shares to close with a gain of 15 cents at $66.50, Prestige Holdings with 820 units, closed at $9.40 with an increase of 4 cents, Sagicor Financial Corporation with 15,685 units closed at $7.03 as the price gained 3 cents and West Indian Tobacco with 1,390 units to close with a one cent gain at $118.01.
Declines| Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank with 86,000 shares traded for $98,900, closed at $1.15, for the loss of a cent, Republic Bank suffered a loss of 27 cents to close at $120.33 and Scotiabank traded 2,409 shares valued at $168,052, to close at $69.75, as the price lost 24 cents.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, ANSA McAL contributing 71,380 shares with a value of $4,743,201, to close at $66.45, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 187,776 shares changing hands for a value of $93,888, to close at 50 cents and National Flour Mills trading 6,479 shares, 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 the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Paramount grows profit 68%
Paramount Trading Company enjoyed strong gains in 2013 as profit before tax jumped an attractive 68 percent from revenues that are up 10 percent year over year but it was partly aided by an increase in other income growing by 87 percent to $7.6 million.
As of November 2013, gross profit margin increased to 46 percent from 43 percent for the same period in 2012. This improvement contributed $10 million to profit and is aided by slower growth in cost of sales of $227.8 million that increased by 8 percent at slower pace than revenue, while administration cost moved up by only 6 percent. The various areas of improvement, profit margin and cost containment enabled the company to make a profit of $35.2 million for the six month period, up from just $21 million in 2012, while sales grew to $339.5 million from $300.8 million. There was no major reduction in finance cost which came in at $10.6 million compared to $11.2 million in 2012 even as borrowings declined by just over $20 million. Movement in foreign exchange would have been a factor in pushing the cost in this area.
For the November quarter, revenues grew by 9.2 percent but profit before tax increased by 85 percent as gross margin climbed to an attractive 50 percent up from 43 percent in 2012, while administrative cost fell from $31 million to $28 million and finance cost slipped slightly to $4.8 from $5.1 million resulting in profit before tax of $19 million versus $10.3 million in the 2012 quarter.
During the November quarter, the company indicated that it expanded the food chemical product range and this should add to revenues and profit going forward.
The company seems set to earn $90 million in profit or around 60 cents per share and should go on to earn around 80-85 cents per share for 2015. Based on this projection, the stock is priced at 5 times 2013 earnings, well below the 8 times that many junior market stocks are priced at currently, leaving room for a good potential gain in the months ahead.
Balance Sheet | Receivables climbed to $130 million at the end of the quarter from $89 million at the end of November 2012 but is down from $146 million at the end of May (the company’s financial year end) but inventories climbed to $229 million from $172 million at both November 2012 and May 2013.
Payables, on the other hand, was up from $75 million at the end of November 2012 to $107 million in November 2013 but it is slightly better than the $110 million owing at the end of May 2013. These changes result in cash falling from $60 million at the end of the fiscal year to $37 million. The increased inventory is expected to fill increased demand for the goods during the high demand third quarter. At the end of the November, shareholders’ equity stood at $278 million or $1.88 per share after setting aside $21 million for a dividend payment.
Related posts | Paramount misses Buy Rated crown | Higher cost flattens Paramount’s profit
